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THE  KING  OF  THE 
TOWN 

BY 

ELLEN    MACKUBIN 


BOSTON  AN'D  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

Cfe  ttitirrsib?  pries, 
MDCCCXCVIII 


Copyright,  1898, 
BY  ELLEN  MACKUBIN. 

All  rights  reserved. 


THIS  STORY   IS  DEDICATED 
TO 

MY  MOTHER. 

E.  M. 


M6815G8 


THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN 


FORT  LUDLOW  is  one  of  the  oldest  posts 
in  Montana.  It  is  also  one  of  the  smallest. 
Established  for  the  maintenance  of  order  on 
an  Indian  reservation  a  few  miles  distant,  it 
has  survived  the  departure  of  the  nation's 
wards,  and  the  opening  of  their  lands  to 
settlers. 

Rumors  of  rich  mining  probabilities  at 
tracted  these  invaders  in  hordes,  and  Fort 
Ludlow  promptly  discovered  that  they  were 
likely  to  require  more  constant  watchfulness 
than  its  former  charges.  The  post  command 
ers  had  been  wont  to  find  pleasure  in  much 
grumbling  concerning  the  anxiety  resulting 
from  the  wiles  of  agents  and  the  restlessness 
of  redskins.  But,  during  the  year  which 


2  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

had  elapsed  since  the  little  mushroom  town 
sprang  into  existence,  fervent  had  been  their 
regrets  for  the  change  of  responsibility. 
Puritans  and  saints  the  lamented  savages 
were  asserted  to  appear  when  compared  with 
the  outcasts  of  civilization  who  had  been 
substituted  for  those  gentle  neighbors  by  the 
starting  of  two  silver  mines,  and  the  build 
ing  of  a  branch  railroad  which  connected 
with  the  Northern  Pacific. 

Heedless  of  the  anxiety  it  inspired,  and 
engrossed  by  its  own  struggle  for  life,  Sil- 
verton  thus  far  had  manifested  scant  interest 
in  its  guardian  fort  beyond  a  tendency  among 
certain  professional  gamblers  and  keepers  of 
drinking  saloons  to  ensnare  unwary  troop 
ers  to  the  loss  of  pay  and  the  overstaying  of 
furloughs.  Nor,  in  spite  of  wild  fightings 
and  brawlings,  had  it  shown  any  tendency 
to  that  direct  appeal  to  military  protection 
without  which  a  paternal  government  does 
not  permit  soldiers  to  prevent  civilians  from 
cutting  each  other's  throats  when  they  are 
so  inclined. 


THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN  3 

Time  passed  smoothly  and  rather  slug 
gishly  at  Ludlow,  where  the  small  society 
was  composed  chiefly  of  married  people, 
and  where  special  effort  for  gayety  was  for 
bidden  by  the  recent  sorrow  which  had 
brought  their  only  young  lady  to  make  her 
home  with  her  brother,  Captain  Lorimer, 
and  his  wife. 

In  such  a  community  events  were  rare 
boons,  and  the  installation  of  a  new  com 
manding  officer  was  of  equal  social  and  mil 
itary  importance. 

Major  Cornish  had  been  promoted  from 
another  regiment.  His  future  associates 
knew  of  him  merely  his  age,  that  he  was 
unmarried,  and  that  he  had  achieved  dis 
tinction  during  several  campaigns  in  Ari 
zona.  Much,  therefore,  was  the  curiosity, 
and  many  the  predictions,  which  anticipated 
his  coming, 

Within  twenty-four  hours  of  his  arrival, 
the  officers  of  the  garrison  had  been  for 
mally  presented  to  him  by  Captain  Lorimer, 
acting  commandant  since  the  departure  of 


4  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

Major  Wharton.  Every  lady  had  made  his 
acquaintance  at  "  band  -  play  "  —  and  the 
characteristics  of  his  outward  man  and  man 
ner  were  matters  of  defined  if  diverse  pub 
lic  opinion. 

Very  soldierly,  rather  silent,  and  looking 
fully  his  thirty-six  years,  was  the  sum  of 
Edith  Lorimer's  first  impressions.  That 
his  steadfast  blue  eyes  would,  on  further 
observation,  prove  to  be  more  grave  than 
stern,  was  a  corollary,  presumably  correct, 
and  defended  against  the  opinion  of  the 
surgeon's  wife,  that  they  were  eyes  to  which 
she  could  never  talk  freely,  —  an  assertion 
which  Mrs.  Blount's  friends  would  have 
found  incredible,  for  reasons  quite  apart 
from  the  quality  of  Major  Cornish's  re 
gard. 

The  incessant  chatter  of  that  voluble 
lady,  and  the  equally  incessant  jolting  of 
the  ambulance,  which  was  the  substitute  for 
a  closed  carriage  at  Ludlow,  speedily  reduced 
Edith's  share  in  the  conversation  to  mono 
syllables.  Their  drive  to  Silverton  had  been 


THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN  5 

undertaken  for  shopping  purposes,  valued 
principally  by  the  feminine  portion  of  the 
garrison  as  being  a  privilege  only  granted  to 
them  by  their  husbands  and  brothers  since 
certain  recent  reforms  in  the  street  decorum 
of  the  settlement.  Usually,  the  "  general 
stores,"  among  which  that  shopping  had  to 
be  done,  constituted  a  lottery  where  the 
prizes  were  few.  But  on  this  afternoon 
their  errands  proved  unwontedly  successful, 
and  packages  were  heaped  upon  the  benches 
of  the  ambulance  as  they  passed  through 
the  gates  of  the  post  on  their  return. 

Edith  glanced  wistfully  at  the  windows 
of  her  brother's  quarters,  when  the  soldier- 
driver  pulled  up  the  four  mules  before  the 
door.  Neither  she  nor  Mrs.  Blount  had  out 
grown  their  natural  fear  of  those  unsubju- 
gated  animals,  and  neither  would  permit  the 
driver  to  leave  them.  No  sign  of  help,  how 
ever,  was  to  be  perceived  from  behind  the 
muslin  custains,  of  whose  dainty  convention 
ality  Edith's  sister-in-law  was  justly  proud. 

She  poised   herself    anxiously    upon    the 


0  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

single  lofty  step  of  the  ambulance,  and 
gathering  her  skirts  free  of  the  enormous 
wheels,  she  prepared  to  take  the  necessary 
leap. 

"  Allow  me  to  assist  you,  Miss  Lorimer,"  a 
pleasant,  unfamiliar  voice  exclaimed.  "  Will 
you  put  your  hands  on  my  shoulders  ?  So  !  " 

And  she  swiftly  descended  to  earth  in  the 
stalwart  arms  of  Major  Cornish. 

"  This  does  n't  seem  an  equipage  exactly 
adapted  for  ladies,"  he  said,  lifting  his  cap 
to  Mrs.  Blount. 

"Don't  say  a  word  against  it,  please," 
she  implored.  "  If  you  find  fault  it  will  be 
taken  from  us,  and  we  shall  never  get  over 
to  Silverton  !  " 

"  Is  the  town  so  attractive  ?     From  what 

1  saw  as  I  rode  through  it  last  night,  I 
should  not  have  thought  that  you  could  be 
trusted  there  without  escort." 

"  Edith,  dear !  He  is  going  to  be  a  ty 
rant  !  He  means  to  take  away  our  few 
hard- won  privileges,"  Mrs.  Blount  cried  pa 
thetically. 


THE    KING    OF   THE    TOWN  1 

"Rather  a  supplicant  than  a  tyrant!  I 
spoke  of  an  escort,  hoping  that  I  might 
sometimes  belong  to  its  number." 

"  Except  for  the  pleasure  of  it,  nobody 
needs  an  escort  in  Silverton  since  the  reign 
of  Dare  has  begun,"  Edith  said,  returning 
from  the  house  followed  by  the  "  striker," 
who  collected  her  share  of  the  parcels. 

"  Who  is  Dare  ?  "  Cornish  asked. 

"  The  4  king  of  the  town,'  "  Mrs.  Blount 
cried  gayly.  "  Miss  Lorimer  will  be  de 
lighted  to  tell  you  about  him.  She  is  one 
of  his  champions.  Good-by  !  " 

Thereupon  the  ambulance  driver  shook  the 
reins,  and,  after  a  playful  pretense  of  pre 
ferring  the  sidewalk  to  the  roadway,  which 
forced  Edith  to  the  doorstep,  the  mules 
trotted  briskly  along  the  parade. 

"  4  The  king  of  the  town  '  ?  That  descrip 
tion  is  what  novelists  call  suggestive,"  Cor 
nish  said  with  a  smile  which  Edith  liked,  in 
spite  of  its  gleam  of  irony.  "  I  shall  hope 
to  hear  more  of  4  his  majesty  '  this  evening, 
as  Mrs.  Lorimer  has  asked  me  to  dine." 


8  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  I  will  introduce  the  subject,  but  my 
brother's  eloquence  shall  continue  it,"  she 
said  lightly.  "  He  declares  that  this  Dare 
is  the  very  ally  a  commandant  at  Ludlow 
requires  to  help  him  in  keeping  peace  among 
those  miners." 

"  Then  it  behooves  me  to  learn  what  terms 
this  ally  will  condescend  to  make,"  he  re 
plied. 

She  turned  away  a  little  abruptly.  Irony 
in  a  smile,  she  decided,  like  vinegar  in  a 
salad,  was  an  element  dangerous  to  the 
charm  of  the  whole,  unless  used  with  a  dis 
cretion  which  was  unfortunately  rare ! 

Nevertheless  she  dressed  for  dinner,  con 
scious  of  keener  anticipation  of  interest 
than  for  many  months.  She  had  not  dwelt 
thus  long  among  her  present  surroundings 
without  discovering  that  the  prejudices  of 
a  commanding  officer  influence  those  of  his 
subordinates  in  lines  not  considered  by  army 
regulations  ;  and  she  believed  that  Major 
Cornish's  support  would  be  necessary  to 
the  success  of  a  plan  on  which  she  assured 


THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN  9 

herself   that   her  happiness  at  Ludlow  de 
pended. 

Edith  Lorimer  had  come  to  this  new  home 
in  a  mood  which  was  more  impressed  by  its 
narrowness  than  by  the  novelty  which  pre 
sents  garrison  life  picturesquely  to  most  girl 
visitors.  During  several  previous  years  she 
had  been  the  close  and  confidential  com 
panion  of  her  father,  a  man  whose  success 
ful  literary  career  had  been  in  touch  with 
all  that  was  finest  of  the  world's  progress. 
After  such  a  past,  the  present  of  a  three-com 
pany  post  sauntering  through  the  monotony 
of  these  peaceful  days,  with  a  round  of  lim 
ited  duties,  limited  pleasures,  and  yet  more 
limited  interests,  seemed  a  blank  desolation. 
Her  heart,  moreover,  was  yet  lonelier  than 
her  mind.  A  father's  affection  had  hitherto 
held  her  obviously  first,  while  now,  though 
Tom  and  Dorothy  were  very  kind,  they  suf 
ficed  for  each  other's  happiness.  They  and 
their  wonderful  baby  !  Her  heart  felt  empty, 
her  hands  idle,  and  the  wistful  desire  had 
grown  that  she  might  fill  this  emptiness  and 


10  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

employ  this  idleness  with  work  that  should 
help  such  needs  as  neighbored  the  state  of 
life  into  which  she  had  been  newly  led. 
Such  work  as  she  had  seen  girls  of  her  own 
class  accomplish  in  the  worst  districts  of  New 
York,  she  thought  herself  capable  of  achiev 
ing  among  the  wretched  women  and  children 
whom  she  occasionally  saw  in  her  rapid  flit- 
tings  through  Silverton.  But  she  was  aware 
that  Tom,  who  possessed  the  usual  mascu 
line  aversion  for  any  project  likely  to  thrust 
publicity  on  a  wife  or  a  sister,  would  oppose 
this  scheme,  unless  she  secured  for  it  so  in 
fluential  a  favor  as  that  of  his  commanding 
officer. 

Edith's  bright  eyes,  fair  hair,  and  fresh 
complexion  were  of  the  type  which  sober 
colors  best  become.  Nothing  could  have 
suited  her  more  daintily  than  the  black 
gauze  through  which  her  neck  and  arms 
shone  whitely.  Nor  was  she,  despite  recent 
sorrow  and  serious  purpose,  without  sustain 
ing  content  in  that  knowledge,  as  she  walked 
downstairs  to  the  drawing-room. 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  11 

This  drawing-room  reflected  greater  credit 
upon  its  mistress  than  would  any  of  the 
gorgeous  apartments  designed  and  executed 
by  some  fashionable  firm  of  decorators  be 
longing  to  far-distant  civilization.  The  cre 
tonne  hangings  were  Dorothy's  own  handi 
work.  The  many-cushioned  divan  had  been 
a  packing-case,  covered  and  padded  by  her 
skillful  fingers.  Tablecloths,  mantel  draper 
ies,  —  even  the  frames  of  the  etchings  and 
engravings  which  almost  hid  the  whitewashed 
walls,  —  were  Dorothy's  creations.  She  still 
regretted  the  decorators,  though  she  was 
proud  of  her  success ;  but  her  husband's  pride 
was  marred  by  no  regret  whatever.  Edith 
found  him  detailing  to  Cornish  the  origin  of 
many  a  quaint  contrivance,  and  relating  the 
adventures  through  which  boxes  of  china  and 
his  wife's  beloved  piano  had  survived  the  va 
ried  dangers  of  prairie  freight  transportation. 

She  liked  the  manner  of  Cornish's  listen 
ing  to  a  subject  which  progressed  to  the 
dinner-table  and  threatened  to  exclude  any 
other.  His  blue  eyes  could  be  very  kindly, 


12  THE   KING    OF    THE    TOWN 

and  his  smile,  despoiled  of  irony,  was  worth 
some  trouble  to  provoke.  But  she  grew  im 
patient,  after  a  while,  of  Tom's  narratives, 
which  aroused  mutinous  memories  of  days 
when  he  had  displayed  a  too  masterful  in 
terest  in  the  equipment  of  her  doll's  house. 
The  topic  she  desired  was,  however,  finally 
brought  forward  by  Dorothy,  who  declared 
that  no  future  housekeeper  setting  up  an 
establishment  at  Ludlow  would  realize  how 
bare  the  land  had  been  upon  her  arrival. 

"  Why,  Tom  would  not  allow  me  to  shop 
in  Silverton  except  under  escort  of  himself 
and  a  couple  of  revolvers  that  frightened 
away  the  remembrance  of  my  errands !  "  she 
said,  laughing  ;  "  even  if  it  had  been  possi 
ble  to  find  anything  I  wanted  before  Mr. 
Dare  opened  his  '  general  store.' ' 

"  Dolly,  you  have  proposed  my  toast," 
Edith  exclaimed  gayly,  meeting  the  glance 
with  which  Cornish  reminded  her  of  her 
promise.  "  Tom,  I  told  Major  Cornish  that 
you  would  explain  to  him  what  Mr.  Dare  is 
doing  in  Silverton." 


THE    KING    Or   THE    TO\VS  13 

"What  Dare  is  doing?"  Lorimer  re 
peated,  while  his  cheery  countenance  became 
serious.  "  That  subject  will  stretch  beyond 
table-talk.  He  has  made  a  remarkable  be 
ginning,  and  the  end  is  not  yet  in  sight." 

"  I  have  heard  him  mentioned  by  three 
people  to-day,"  Cornish  said,  "  each  one  of 
whom  has  suggested  a  different  character. 
What  is  he  ?  Shop-keeper,  adventurer,  mis 
sionary? —  or  a  combination  of  all  three, 
which  may  produce  that  first  emanation 
from  chaos  in  Western  towns  —  '  a  leading 
citizen '  ?  " 

"You  have  hit  him  off  very  nearly,  ex 
cept  that  in  Dare's  case  the  missionary  pre 
ponderates  to  an  extent  which  is  likely  to 
develop  the  leading  citizen  into  a  martyr 
instead  of  a  member  of  Congress,  which  is 
the  usual  ultimate  evolution  when  we  become 
sufficiently  civilized  to  be  annexed." 

"A  martyr?  Nowadays?"  Cornish  ex 
claimed  lightly. 

"Why  not?" 

"  Because   martyrdom    requires    simpler 


14  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

faith  and  more  strenuous  conviction  than 
exists  in  these  days  of  complexity  and  un 
certainty." 

"  We  are  centuries  behind  our  generation 
out  here  !  "  Tom  laughed.  "  There  is  no 
thing  simpler  or  more  convinced  in  the  his 
tory  of  the  '  dark  ages  '  than  public  opinion 
and  private  practice  in  Silverton  —  and  this 
Dare,"  he  continued,  growing  earnest  again, 
"  this  Dare  hurls  himself  against  those  opin 
ions  and  those  practices  as  fearlessly  as  — 
who  was  that  Florentine  chap,  Edith  ?  " 

"  Savonarola  ?  " 

"  Savonarola,  yes !  So  it  seems  to  me 
not  improbable  that  his  fate  will  be  the 
same  —  with  the  substitution  of  a  '  six- 
shooter  '  for  a  stake  and  flames." 

"  Yet  Miss  Lorimer  tells  me  that  you 
think  this  picturesquely  tragic  individual 
would  make  a  useful  ally  for  us  in  bringing 
law  and  order  to  the  town  ?  " 

"  Exactly.  His  enthusiasm  needs  only 
to  be  moderated  by  discretion  to  achieve  an 
object  which  is  in  part  the  same  as  ours." 


THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN  15 

"  Do  you  suggest  that  the  chief  charac 
teristic  of  the  army  is  discretion  ?  "  Dorothy 
exclaimed  as  indignantly  as  though  Tom 
had  slandered  her  beloved  soldiers. 

"  We  must  be  strategists  when  it  is  neces 
sary,"  Cornish  interposed  with  a  smile. 
"  Does  this  Dare  preach  ?  " 

"  Come  and  hear  him,"  Edith  said  eagerly. 
"  He  preaches  twice  each  week  outside  his 
store,  and  my  brother  has  promised  to  take 
me  there  again  to-morrow. " 

"  Thank  you,  I  shall  be  delighted.  But 
street  preaching,  according  to  general  opin 
ion,  is  more  likely  to  produce  disorder  than 
the  reverse." 

Lorimer  leaned  forward  impressively. 

"  I  assure  you,  Major,  that,  turbulent  and 
dissolute  as  the  settlement  seems  to  you,  it 
is  a  land  of  Beulah  compared  to  the  moral 
piggery  this  fellow  found  it  when  he  arrived 
six  months  ago.  The  place  is  more  a  mining 
camp  than  a  town  even  yet,  for  there  is  no 
civil  authority.  But  Dare  is  rapidly  assum 
ing  the  position  of  '  regulator.' ' 


16  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  Dangerous,  I  should  say." 

"  Not  while  the  uprightness  of  his  aims  is 
so  obvious." 

"  How  does  he  manifest  it  ?  " 

"  By  half  a  dozen  methods.  He  has  es 
tablished  behind  his  store  what  might  be 
called  a  club,  if  it  were  not  a  '  free  for  all ' 
luxury.  Men  can  get  drink  there  in  moder 
ation,  with  billiards,  newspapers,  and  maga 
zines.  But  neither  drunkenness  nor  gam 
bling  is  permitted." 

"  How  are  they  forbidden  ?  " 

"  Dare  and  his  barkeeper  wear  revolvers, 
which  nobody  doubts  that  they  would  use  if 
needful." 

"  Rather  violent  for  a  missionary." 

"  Violent  ills  require  violent  remedies," 
Tom  quoted.  "  Silverton  leading  strings 
must  be  made  of  stout  stuff." 

"  He  wants  to  open  a  small  hospital  for 
the  victims  of  accidents  and  shooting  frays," 
Edith  said. 

"  Is  he  wealthy  ?  " 

"I   fancy   most  of   his  money   is  in  the 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  17 

store,  which  my  wife  has  told  you  is  also  a 
boon  to  the  town." 

44  He  is  a  many-sided  phenomenon  !  " 

"  Perhaps  you  will  find  his  first  appear 
ance  here  theatrical ! "  Edith  exclaimed 
indignantly.  "  He  volunteered  to  lead  a 
rescue  party,  after  an  explosion  at  the 
4  Spread  Eagle '  mine." 

44  Did  I  not  say  that  he  is  many-sided  ?  " 
Cornish  asked  undismayed.  44  You  add 
heroism  to  the  various  aspects  we  have 
already  considered." 

"There  is  another,"  Dorothy,  who  was 
slightly  bored,  declared,  smiling  as  she  rose. 
44  He  is  well  bred,  well  educated,  and  the 
handsomest  man  I  have  ever  seen  !  " 

Cornish  opened  the  door  for  the  exit  of 
the  ladies,  and  Edith,  meeting  his  serene 
glance,  was  vexed ly  aware  that  she  blushed. 

Probably  he  would  classify  her  in  his 
thoughts  as  a  schoolgirlish  young  person 
inclined  to  vary  the  dullness  of  Ludlow  by 
an  ardent  discipleship  of  this  picturesque 
adventurer. 


18  THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN 

Such  a  classification,  though  mortifying, 
was  endurable  for  a  few  hours,  and  to 
morrow  he  would  do  justice  to  her  and  to 
the  cause  she  had  adopted.  No  prejudice 
which  was  sincere  and  intelligent  would 
withstand  the  earnestness  of  one  of  Dare's 
rough  addresses,  and,  despite  her  vexation, 
she  did  not  doubt  that  both  sincerity  and 
intelligence  underlay  their  new  commanding 
officer's  determined  aloofness  from  the  local 
enthusiasm.  He  meant  to  judge  for  himself, 
but  she  thought  he  would  judge  fairly,  and 
she  anticipated  some  triumph  in  his  conver 
sion. 

Whatever  was  Major  Cornish's  impres 
sion  of  her  ill-timed  blush,  or  whether  he 
retained  any  impression  of  it,  she  had  no 
chance  of  guessing  that  evening.  He  entered 
the  drawing-room  merely  for  an  apologetic 
"good -night"  after  Dorothy  had  fallen 
asleep  in  an  armchair,  and  Tom  reported 
that  they  had  found  so  many  regimental 
matters  to  discuss  that  the  lateness  of  the 
hour  had  been  forgotten. 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  19 

Major  Cornish  was  middle-aged,  Edith 
decided  as  she  went  upstairs,  —  a  fault  more 
incurable  than  boyishness,  she  supplemented 
with  a  remorseful  smile  for  certain  newly- 
fledged  lieutenants  toward  whom  she  felt 
the  tolerance  natural  to  a  clever  girl  of  three 
and  twenty,  conscious  of  wider  experience 
than  her  masculine  cotemporaries.  Yet 
middle  age  should  be  the  epoch  of  common- 
sense  and  practical  activity.  Both  these 
qualities  would  respond  to  a  clear  percep 
tion  of  Dare's  work,  and  she  must  continue 
to  seek  from  Major  Cornish  that  approval 
for  her  own  scheme  which  she  knew  would 
influence  Tom's  consent  to  it. 

Dare's  preaching  had  been  announced  for 
eight  o'clock  on  the  following  evening,  and 
a  blithe  little  riding  party  set  out  immedi 
ately  after  dinner,  composed  of  Tom  and 
Edith  Lorimer,  Mrs.  Blount,  Cornish,  and 
young  Gwynne. 

"  It  should  give  you  painful  foreboding  of 
Ludlow  dullness,  Major  Cornish,  that  we 


20  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

rush  to  a  sermon  as  though  it  were  an  ex 
hilarating  gayety  !  "  Mrs.  Blount  cried  as 
they  passed  through  the  post  gateway. 

"  Why  not  confess,  as  I  do,  that  the  ser 
mon  forms  a  small  addition  to  the  charm  of  a 
moonlight  ride  in  such  pleasant  company  ?  " 

"  It  is  the  main  object  with  some  of  us,  I 
assure  you.  For  instance,  Miss  Lorimer 
thinks  the  occasion  too  serious  for  the  fri 
volity  of  a  brisk  gallop." 

"  Try  me  !  "  Edith  exclaimed,  smiling, 
and,  touching  her  horse  with  her  whip,  she 
darted  away  across  the  billowy  uplands,  fol 
lowed  by  the  others. 

June  possessed  the  world,  and  in  the 
western  horizon  lingered  an  afterglow, 
among  whose  ruddy  glories  dawned  the 
evening  star.  Over  the  early  summer  fresh 
ness  of  the  grass  the  happy  horses  bounded, 
and  a  thousand  perfumy  odors  wrapped  the 
senses  of  the  riders  as  they  swept  on  through 
the  vast  stillness. 

"  Suppose  we  skip  the  sermon  and  ride 
further  ?  "  young  Gwynne  entreated,  when 


Till:    KING    OF   THE    TOWN  21 

the  scattered  lights  of  the  settlement  twin 
kled  before  them.  "  Nobody  will  believe 
that  the  world  is  a  bad  place  on  such  a 
glorious  night  as  this !  —  and  that  is  what 
preachers  always  hammer  into  us." 

Tom  Lorimer,  however,  had  a  purpose, 
and  he  announced  it. 

"  This  party  means  business,"  he  declared. 
"  The  sooner  the  commandant  at  Ludlow 
makes  acquaintance  with  the  king  of  the 
town  the  better  for  the  subjects  of  both 
potentates!  Therefore  to  the  sermon  we 
go!" 

And,  after  some  laughing  protests,  his 
companions  acquiesced. 

Silverton,  as  has  been  said,  was  yet  a 
mining  camp  rather  than  a  town,  though 
its  citizens  would  have  been  dangerously 
affronted  by  the  suggestion. 

It  consisted  of  a  long  wide  street,  on 
either  side  of  which  straggled  edifices  that 
bore  evidence  in  varying  degree  to  flimsi- 
ness  of  material  and  hastiness  of  construc 
tion,  the  most  primitive  being  of  canvas 


22  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

stretched  dingily  over  timbers,  while  the 
more  substantial  frame  houses  were  painted 
in  gaudy  colors  which  expressed  the  vivid 
tastes  of  their  owners.  The  sheds  and 
offices  of  the  mines  which  formed  the  rai- 
son  d'etre  of  the  settlement  loomed  darkly 
at  each  extremity  of  the  street,  and  between 
were  the  dwellings  of  the  miners,  a  some 
what  startling  number  of  drinking  saloons, 
a  couple  of  stores,  and  at  the  further  end 
the  low  buildings  and  freight  cars  of  the 
railway  station. 

On  the  doorsteps  of  their  lodgings  lounged 
rough-looking  men  and  slatternly  women, 
while  through  some  lighted  windows  came 
the  sound  of  dance  music  and  shouts  of 
coarse  laughter.  But  there  were  fewer 
loafers,  and  the  place  was  quieter  than 
when  Cornish  had  passed  through  it  two 
nights  since. 

"  Most  of  the  population  has  gathered 
outside  Dare's  store, "  Edith  explained, 
when  he  remarked  the  change  to  her. 
"  There  is  his  house  —  the  long  white  one. 


THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN  23 

Beyond  it,  toward  the  foothills,  he  usually 
preaches,  and  there  we  shall  find  the  peo 
ple." 

An  instant  later  they  turned  a  corner 
which  had  obstructed  their  view  of  a  large, 
and,  considering  its  elements,  a  singularly 
tranquil  mass  of  humanity.  Miners  and 
railroad  laborers  made  up  the  main  body 
of  the  assemblage,  with  a  few  women,  per 
haps  a  dozen  troopers  from  Ludlow,  and  a 
fringe  of  cow-boy  riders  from  the  neighbor 
ing  ranches. 

Near  one  of  these  latter  groups  Tom 
Lorimer  halted  his  party,  and  a  share  of 
the  general  silence  fell  upon  them. 

Occasionally  a  horse  shook  his  bridle  im 
patiently,  or  there  was  a  laugh  from  some 
irrepressible  joker,  but  the  silence  remained 
curiously  unbroken,  —  almost  as  unbroken 
as  that  of  a  well  -  bred  congregation  in  a 
stately  church,  though  this  crowd  was  com 
posed  of  as  ill-disciplined  a  lot  as  the  North 
west  could  collect,  and  had  already  waited 
half  an  hour  for  the  preacher. 


24  THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN 

A  door  closed  sharply. 

There  was  a  simultaneous  surge  a  step  or 
two  nearer  the  side  entrance  of  the  house, 
where  a  tall  man  had  mounted  a  packing 
case. 

He  was  tall,  and  this  makeshift  pulpit 
lifted  him  above  his  audience,  yet  the 
rising  moon,  which  touched  the  upturned 
faces  most  remote  from  him,  left  his  own 
invisible.  He  was  dressed  in  the  flannel 
shirt,  leather  breeches,  and  high  boots 
worn  by  most  of  his  fellow  citizens,  and 
during  a  moment  he  stood  motionless. 

"He  is  dead,"  he  said  presently.  The 
low  slow  tone  would  have  carried  his  words 
clearly  further  than  his  hearers  extended, 
and  its  solemnity  gave  them  their  full  im 
port.  "  One  of  you  told  me  yesterday  that 
the  world  about  you  is  too  near  and  too 
busy  to  permit  you  to  spare  time  for  thought 
of  the  world  hereafter,  which  seems  far 
away !  This  man  found  the  distance  be 
tween  these  worlds  barely  an  hour  long,  — 
and  within  that  hour  he  was  forced  to  make 


THE   KING    OF   THE    TOW*  25 

his  preparations,  as  well  as  to  do  his  journey 
ing.  Scant  time  we  should  find  a  single 
hour  to  pack  our  valuables  and  settle  our 
responsibilities  for  an  absence  of  a  month  or 
a  year;  this  absence  is  for  eternity.  But 
he  learned  that  his  responsibilities  had  been 
assumed  by  One  who  paid  a  price  for  them 
eighteen  centuries  ago —  And  all  the  trea 
sure  he  needed  to  take  with  him,  was  the 
belief  of  his  repentant  soul  that  to  a  dying 
sinner  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  said,  4  This 
night  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise.'  ' 

He  paused. 

Nobody  stirred.  Only  the  moon  creep 
ing  upward  revealed  the  faces  nearest  the 
pulpit,  above  which  the  preacher  rose  dimly, 
a  shadow  among  shadows. 

He  began  to  speak  more  rapidly,  and  with 
increasing  fervor,  of  the  probability  that 
many  of  those  who  listened  to  him  must 
depart  from  the  wild  lives  they  led  with  as 
brief  a  warning  as  their  comrade  had  re 
ceived,  —  or  with  none. 

"  Repent !  "    he    cried.      "  Repent  while 


26  THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN 

your  God  yet  waits  for  your  repentance. 
The  day  is  at  hand  when  He  shall  refuse  to 
hear,  clamor  you  never  so  loudly.  Then 
shall  remain  before  you  this  journey,  which 
is  the  single  certainty  in  the  future  which 
we  reckon  so  confidently,  and  you  shall 
go  forth  without  light,  without  chart,  with 
out  compass,  into  that  unfathomable  dark 
ness,  that  everlasting  desolation  which  awaits 
those  undying  souls  who  have  scorned  the 
patience  of  their  God." 

He  paused  again. 

The  moon  had  found  him  at  last,  and 
illumined  his  erect  figure,  his  wide-flung 
arms,  his  glorified  countenance. 

Edith  suddenly  remembered  her  hope  for 
the  conversion  of  Cornish,  and  glanced  at 
him. 

Rigid  as  though  he  beheld  a  vision,  he 
stared  at  the  preacher.  But  no  heaven-born 
emotion  had  hardened  every  line  of  his  pro 
file  until  its  stern  gray  pallor  seemed  cut  in 
stone. 

As  Dare's  clear  voice  rang  out  once  more, 


THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN  27 

those  rigid  features  flushed  and  quivered, 
while  a  hand  fumbled  at  the  belt  where  the 
officers  of  Ludlow  carried  a  revolver  when 
they  left  the  post  after  dark. 

With  an  instinct  swifter  than  thought, 
Edith  leaned  forward  and  touched  that  seek 
ing  hand. 

There  was  no  recognition  in  the  first  som 
bre  flash  of  the  eyes  which  turned  to  her, 
and  in  which  she  saw  depths  of  the  strange 
soul  of  man  which  women  of  her  class  and 
generation  seldom  behold,  —  depths  where 
beneath  civilization  and  Christianity  and 
nineteenth  century  philosophy  lurk  the  pri 
meval  passions.  An  instant,  the  space  of  a 
dozen  mad  heart-beats,  then  Cornish  started 
wildly.  The  hand  she  had  stayed  dropped 
to  his  side,  and  he  averted  his  eyes. 

"  He  —  he  should  have  had  —  his  chance," 
he  muttered. 

With  which  he  pulled  his  horse  around, 
and,  unheeding  a  surprised  question  from 
Lorimer,  he  rode  off  down  the  street,  whose 
empty  stillness  stretched  away  whitely  in  the 
moonlight. 


28  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"What  ails  him?  What  did  he  say  to 
you  ?  "  Tom  asked. 

But  Edith  found  it  impossible  to  repeat 
Cornish's  words,  or  to  disclose  that  barely 
restrained  impulse  of  violence. 

"He  was  displeased,"  she  answered  with 
a  sense  of  inadequacy  which  gave  her  an 
hysteric  desire  of  laughter.  "  Hush,  Tom, 
these  people  will  do  worse  than  hiss  us,  if 
our  talking  disturbs  them." 

A  warning  of  whose  truth  her  brother 
was  so  aware  that  he  obeyed  it,  and  presently 
fell  again  under  the  influence  of  the  preach 
er's  dramatic  earnestness.  As  the  sermon 
progressed,  however,  it  included  practical  as 
well  as  spiritual  needs,  and  Dare  gave  details 
of  his  various  enterprises  for  the  public 
weal,  and  the  sums  required  for  their  pro 
secution,  with  the  experienced  lucidity  of  the 
average  missionary.  One  element  of  success 
in  the  Northwest  he  proved  that  he  thor 
oughly  understood.  His  work  was  effectively 
done,  and  it  was  done  quickly !  Twenty 
minutes  after  he  mounted  the  packing-case 


THE  KING   OF   THE    TOWN  29 

he  stepped  down  again,  and  was  immediately 
surrounded  by  those  among  his  audience 
who  desired  to  speak  with  him,  or  to  testify 
substantially  their  appreciation  of  his  de 
mands.  Tom,  declaring  that  he  would  not 
detain  his  party  an  instant,  joined  this  group, 
while  Mrs.  Blount  and  Gwynne,  released 
from  the  necessity  of  silence,  chattered  with 
more  than  their  wonted  cheeriness.  They  as 
sured  Edith  that  her  seriousness  betokened 
an  awakening  consciousness  of  extraordi 
nary  cause  for  repentance  ;  accusations  she 
strove  to  refute  with  a  lightness  which  should 
hide  from  them  that  she  had  heard  little  of 
the  sermon's  close. 

To  the  delight  of  Mrs.  Blount,  Tom  re 
turned,  accompanied  by  Dare  himself. 
Edith  had  met  him  on  a  couple  of  similar 
occasions,  but  she  looked  at  him  with  new 
keenness  while  he  was  presented  to  the 
others. 

Seen  thus  near,  he  was  older  and  less  im 
pressive  than  when  distance  and  his  own 
mood  had  idealized  him.  Yet,  worn  and 


30  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

thin,  with  deep  shadows  under  brilliant  eyes, 
he  was  a  handsome  man,  and  his  manner 
showed  that  his  past,  of  which  nobody  in 
Silverton  knew  anything,  must  have  had 
associations  of  refinement. 

"  Mr.  Dare  wishes  to  preach  to  the  troops 
at  Ludlow,"  Tom  said.  "  I  have  told  him 
that  he  would  be  very  welcome." 

"If  there  should  be  an  objection  to  my 
preaching  within  the  post,"  Dare  suggested, 
"  I  can  come  to  any  point  near  by  where  it 
would  be  convenient  to  assemble  the  soldiers, 
and,  of  course,  your  commandant  shall  fix 
the  hour  for  me." 

"  Poor,  dear  fellows,  they  ought  to  be 
grateful  to  you!  "  Mrs.  Blount  exclaimed. 
"  It  is  awfully  good  of  you." 

"  It  will  give  me  great  happiness,"  he  re 
plied  gravely. 

"  I  '11  speak  to  the  Major  to-morrow,  and 
send  an  orderly  with  a  line  to  you  immedi 
ately,"  Tom  said. 

"  If  you  could  induce  your  chief,"  Dare 
began  with  eagerness.  "  He  is  a  stranger,  I 
believe?  Major ?" 


THE  KING    OF   THE    TOWN  31 

"  Major  Cornish,"  Tom  interjected.  Then, 
as  Dare  did  not  conclude  his  sentence,  he 
added :  "  You  were  saying  that  if  we  could 
induce  Major  Cornish  "  — 

"  If  you  could  induce  —  if  you  could  in 
duce  "  —  Dare  repeated  vacantly,  while  blank 
bewilderment  stared  out  of  his  dark  eyes. 
He  pressed  his  hand  over  them  with  an  un 
steady  laugh.  "I  —  I  have  forgotten  what 
I  meant  to  say." 

They  echoed  his  laugh  in  some  embarrass 
ment. 

"You  are  overtired,"  Edith  said  gently. 
"  You  work  too  hard." 

"  I  suppose  I  am  tired,  though  I  did  n't 
realize  it,"  Dare  answered  with  his  accus 
tomed  vigor.  "  I  think,  Captain  Lorimer, 
if  you  will  allow  me,  that  I  should  prefer  to 
see  Major  Cornish  myself  to-morrow  about 
this  business." 

Tom  assented,  and,  with  a  rather  hur 
ried  "  Good  -night,"  Dare  joined  another 
group. 

Tom  mounted  again,  and  they  rode  along 


32  THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN 

the  street  where  the  dispersing  crowd  gave 
token  of  reviving  and  riotous  hilarity. 
None  of  the  Ludlow  party  spoke  until  they 
had  turned  from  the  town  to  the  open 
country. 

"  That  was  the  first  sign  of  a  breakdown, 
I'm  afraid,"  Tom  said  regretfully.  "He 
tries  to  do  too  much." 

"  Yes,"  Mrs.  Blount  agreed.  "  My  hus 
band  says  that  all  the  ills  which  result  from 
our  modern  mania  for  overwork  begin  with 
these  startling  lapses  of  memory." 

"  There  may  have  been  special  reason," 
Edith  hesitated. 

"  What  reason?  "  Mrs.  Blount  interrupted 
gayly.  "  It  was  at  the  mention  of  Major 
Cornish's  name  that  he  forgot  what  he  was 
saying.  Do  you  insinuate  that  he  knows 
some  ghastly  secret  concerning  our  Major  ?  " 

"  Nonsense  !  "  Edith  replied  hastily. 
"  You  remember  he  had  been  with  the  poor 
man  who  died,  just  before  the  sermon,  and 
probably  there  was  a  scene  which  tried  his 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  33 

"  By  the  way,  why  did  Cornish  leave  us 
so  abruptly?  "  Tom  asked. 

u  I  daresay  Major  Cornish  when  bored 
is  more  defiant  than  Mr.  Gwynne,  who 
did  n't  dare  do  worse  than  yawn  prodi 
giously  !  "  Edith  exclaimed,  fencing  as  well 
as  she  was  able. 

"  If  I  had  jumped  out  as  the  Major  did, 
you  would  all  have  been  calling  me  hard 
names  before  this !  "  Gwynne  cried  ag- 
grievedly. 

"  We  should  have  said  that  you  were  rude, 
dear  boy,  —  which  would  have  been  jus 
tice,"  Mrs.  Blount  asserted.  "  But  as  the 
deserter  is  our  commanding  officer  instead 
of  a  second  lieutenant,  we  shall  say  that  he 
was  permissibly  unceremonious,  —  which  is 
military  discipline !  " 

While  this  tilt  of  words  and  laughter  con 
tinued,  Edith  rode  on  silently. 

She  had  "  known  sorrow,  and  been  ac 
quainted  with  grief."  Yet  until  to-night  she 
had  never  met  tragedy  face  to  face.  Indeed, 
in  that  skepticism  regarding  experiences 


34  THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN 

that  have  not  touched  it  which  is  charac 
teristic  of  youth,  she  had  doubted  whether 
tragedy  was  within  the  potentiality  of  her 
surroundings  and  generation.  But  to-night 
its  presence  had  confronted  her  in  two  blue 
eyes  she  had  classed  as  exponents  of  consti 
tutional  and  cultivated  self-control.  And 
Dare,  whose  daily  life  encountered  danger 
and  perplexity  undauntedly,  had  faltered 
visibly  at  the  mention  of  Major  Cornish's 
name. 

She  lay  awake,  while  the  moon  lingered 
on  her  window,  wondering  if  Cornish  would  • 
attempt  explanation  of  his  strange  emotion, 
and  what  that  explanation  might  be.  Yet 
her  thought  as  she  fell  asleep  was  satisfac 
tion  that  the  preacher  of  such  strong  words, 
the  doer  of  such  brave  deeds  as  Dare,  had 
shrunk  only  for  one  startled  instant  from 
whatever  ordeal  the  meeting  with  Cornish 
threatened.  And  it  was  her  instinctive  cer 
tainty  of  his  resolved  restraint  which  had 
decided  her  not  to  secure  Tom's  interven 
tion  to  prevent  the  meeting,  —  a  decision 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  35 

which  she  had  achieved  after  a  sharp  strug 
gle  between  her  fear  of  the  possibly  violent 
result  of  such  an  interview,  and  her  sense  of 
dishonor  in  revealing  any  knowledge  or  half 
knowledge  which  had  coine  to  her  by  chance. 


II 

THE  most  competent  servant  that  constant 
instruction  and  patience  could  evolve  from 
an  Irish  trooper  was  unworthy  to  be  trusted 
with  the  care  of  Dorothy  Lorimer's  be 
loved  bricabrac.  In  the  division  of  lighter 
household  labor  between  the  sisters,  this 
dainty  task  had  been  assigned  to  Edith, 
because  the  hour  during  which  the  drawing- 
room  could  be  more  conveniently  disordered 
was  that  succeeding  breakfast,  when  the 
superior  necessity  of  Baby's  bath  engrossed 
his  mother.  The  command  had  been  im 
pressed  upon  the  "  striker  "  that  no  visitors 
were  to  be  admitted  while  Edith  was  thus 
occupied.  But  the  well-meaning  soldier 
possessed  a  mind  which  resembled  a  sieve, 
inasmuch  that  anything  impressed  upon  it 
passed  immediately  through. 

Therefore,  on  the  day  following  the 
preaching,  Edith,  adorned  with  apron  and 


THE    KJNG    OF   THE    TOWN  37 

gloves,  and  wielding  a  silk  duster,  turned,  in 
certainty  of  unwelcome  intrusion,  as  the  door 
was  flung  open. 

Cornish  hesitated  on  the  threshold  with  a 
smile  whose  wistf  ulness  moved  her  to  sudden 
sympathy,  it  was  so  unlike  the  half  kindly, 
half  ironical  serenity  which  had  slightly 
vexed  her  in  such  smiles  as  she  had  seen 
him  wear  hitherto. 

"This  is  a  very  proud  man  who  knows 
that  he  has  betrayed  what  he  desires  to  con 
ceal  —  and  it  humiliates  him,"  she  thought 
swiftly. 

"  I  had  no  warning  that  any  domestic 
rite  was  in  progress,"  he  said.  "  You  will 
be  exceedingly  kind  if  you  can  allow  me  to 
speak  to  you  for  a  moment." 

"  By  all  means,"  she  exclaimed,  drawing 
off  her  gloves  to  give  him  her  hand,  "if 
you  don't  mind  swallowing  a  great  deal  of 
dust !  Sit  there,  please,"  she  added,  lifting 
a  cover  which  had  been  stretched  over  a 
masterpiece  of  Dorothy's  upholstery. 

But   Cornish   did  not   obey.     He  folded 


38  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

his  arms  on  the  tall  back  of  the  chair,  and 
looked  down  at  her,  as  she  sat  opposite  him. 

"  Thank  you  for  your  silence  concerning 
the  exhibition  I  made  of  myself  last  night," 
he  said. 

"  Did  you  imagine  that  I  should  speak  of 
it  ?  "  she  asked  rather  indignantly. 

"  I  was  sure  that  I  might  trust  your  good 
ness  ;  yet  few  would  have  refrained  from 
making  public  my  possibilities  as  a  melodra 
matic  ass." 

He  paused,  but  Edith  made  no  reply. 

"  You  must  have  expected  some  explana 
tion  ?  "  he  said. 

"  I  hoped  that  you  would  tell  me  enough 
to  prevent  me  from  misjudging  either  you 
or  Mr.  Dare." 

"  You  could  not  judge  him  too  harshly !  " 
he  exclaimed,  —  broke  off  abruptly,  and  con 
tinued  with  restraint,  —  "  a  long  story  has 
led  to  my  hostility,  and  one  that  I  shall  not 
permit  myself  to  tell.  You  must  guess  from 
the  way  in  which  I  lost  my  head  at  the 
sight  of  him,  that  the  wrong  he  has  done  me 
is  beyond  pardon." 


THE   KING   OF  THE   TOWN  39 

He  hesitated,  aiul  his  troubled  eyes  grew 
gravely  grateful. 

"  Your  touch  on  my  hand  brought  many 
things  to  my  remembrance,  which  I  am 
ashamed  that  I  forgot  for  a  moment,  —  my 
duty  here,  whose  chief  object  is  to  support 
such  peace  and  order  as  is  possible  in  Silver- 
ton  ;  the  certainty  that  if  I  attacked  him  the 
crowd  would  have  flung  itself  at  the  throats 
of  our  party,  and  of  the  half  a  dozen 
troopers  who  would  have  sought  to  aid  us." 

Edith  shivered  involuntarily,  and  his  eyes 
softened  yet  more. 

"  It  was  a  danger  from  which  you  saved 
us,  and  which  shall  not  occur  again,"  he 
went  on.  "  I  am  here  to  protect  the  charge 
intrusted  to  me,  not  to  avenge  my  private 
feud.  Nor  is  the  wrong  he  did  me  punish 
able  by  law  even  if  law  existed  here.  For 
the  present"  —  his  breath  came  hurriedly  as 
if  the  weight  of  his  resolve  oppressed  him 
physically  —  "I  shall  merely  watch  him. 
According  to  general  testimony  he  is  doing 
work  in  the  town  which  is  desperately 


40  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

needed.  So  long  as  his  influence  is  used  to 
such  good  result,  I  shall  neither  say  nor  do 
anything  to  interfere  with  him  there." 

He  stepped  nearer  her,  and  held  out  his 
hand. 

"  Will  you  forgive  me  that  I  alarmed  you 
yesterday,  and  have  made  you  uncomfort 
able  this  morning  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  There  is  nothing  to  forgive,"  she  said 
gently.  "  I  am  sorry  that  you  must  begin 
your  stay  at  Ludlow  with  such  a  painful 
experience." 

"  Good  gracious.  Major  Cornish !  "  Dor 
othy's  voice  cried  from  the  doorway.  "  Did 
that  wretched  Ryan  let  you  into  this  con 
fusion  ?  " 

Cornish  relinquished  Edith's  fingers,  and 
greeted  his  hostess  with  perfunctory  cheer- 
mess. 

"  I  have  been  making  my  excuses  for 
leaving  the  riding  party  last  night,"  he 
said. 

"  What  are  they  ?  " 

"  Out-of-door  preachings  are  not  to   my 


THE   KING   Or   THE   TOWN  41 

liking,"  he  replied,  picking  up  his  cap. 
"  Though  I  admit  that  they  produce  admir 
able  effects  among  certain  classes,  and  this 
man  appeared  able  to  keep  his  audience." 

"  With  one  exception  !  " 

"  With  one  exception,"  he  repeated, 
slightly  smiling.  "  Thank  you  again,  Miss 
Lorimer.  Good  morning." 

"  I  am  afraid  I  was  inopportune  !  "  Doro 
thy  laughed  when  he  was  gone.  "  Has  he 
not  reached  the  hand-pressing  era  rather 
speedily  ?  " 

"  Nonsense  !  "  Edith  answered  lightly  as 
she  resumed  her  gloves  and  duster.  "  We 
were  neither  of  us  sentimental,  I  assure 
you !  In  fact  I  have  a  humiliating  suspi 
cion  that  he  did  n't  know  he  was  holding  my 
hand  longer  than  formality  required." 

Despite  her  assumption  of  carelessness, 
however,  Edith's  thoughts  were  possessed 
by  this  interview  with  Cornish  and  divided 
into  factions  whose  irreconcilabilities  per 
plexed  her.  She  was  aware  that  a  wide 
stride  had  been  made  in  her  esteem  by  this 


42  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

soldier  who,  because  of  the  duty  he  owed  to 
his  position,  could  sternly  repress  the  pas 
sionate  enmity  which  had  nearly  overmas 
tered  him.  She  decided  with  a  glow  of  en 
thusiasm  that  there  was  no  more  ennobling 
ideal  than  the  soldierly  one  which,  through 
all  the  world's  history,  has  put  self  second 
to  duty  with  such  unhesitating  directness 
as  makes  it  matter-of-course  to  their  profes 
sion.  Yet  in  the  midst  of  her  enthusiasm 
she  was  convinced  that  Cornish  judged  his 
enemy  harshly.  The  wrong  which  lay  be 
tween  them,  and  which  the  law  could  not 
punish,  had  been  done  to  love,  or  ambition, 
or  fortune,  after  such  manner  as  to  leave 
Dare  comparatively  blameless  to  any  eyes 
but  those  of  the  man  who  had  suffered.  She 
would  not  try  to  guess  the  story,  since  a 
woman's  knowledge  covered  scant  distance 
in  the  lives  of  men.  She  would  be  content 
to  admire  the  generosity  of  the  enemy  who 
withheld  an  influence  which  might  have  been 
potently  adverse,  without  believing  evil  of 
the  other  whose  daily  life  evidenced  so  great 
a  power  for  good. 


THE  A'/AV;  or  niK  TO\\\\  43 

At  this  point  in  her  meditations  she  anx 
iously  remembered  Dare's  intention  to  seek 
Cornish  this  morning.  Dorothy's  entrance 
had  prevented  her  from  warning  Cornish  of 
the  meeting  which  lay  before  him,  and  she 
was  not  altogether  reassured  by  the  reflec 
tion  that  both  men  appeared  resolved  to 
maintain  the  secret  of  their  mutual  antago 
nism. 

The  luncheon  hour,  which  would  bring 
her  brother  with  a  bulletin  of  garrison  news, 
seemed  long  delayed.  She  was  watching  for 
him,  between  the  curtains  of  the  drawing- 
room  windows,  when  he  passed  with  Dare, 
and  she  presently  heard  his  voice  from  the 
hall. 

"  At  least  come  in  and  have  something  to 
drink?  You  must  not  carry  away  false 
impressions  of  Ludlow  hospitality." 

"Nothing  to  drink,  thank  you,"  Dare 
replied.  "  But  I  will  come  in  for  a  moment 
to  pull  myself  together !  I  find  that,  as  a 
man  grows  older,  he  does  not  get  into  a  rage 
with  impunity." 


44  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

Tom's  laugh  had  an  echo  of  embarrass 
ment,  and  he  perceived  Edith  with  obvious 
relief. 

"  Here  is  my  sister,  who  will  regret  as 
much  as  I  that  our  plan  has  fallen  through." 

"  The  plan  for  the  preaching  ?  "  she  asked 
eagerly.  "Why?" 

"Major  Cornish  refuses  his  consent," 
Dare  answered  without  formal  greeting  to 
her,  and,  sinking  into  an  armchair,  he  leaned 
his  elbow  on  his  knee  and  his  head  on  his 
hand. 

Edith  stood  dumb  with  disappointment 
at  this  failure  of  Cornish's  resolution,  and 
with  compassion  for  the  enemy  whose  peace 
offering  had  evidently  been  roughly  repulsed. 

"  Come,  come,  Dare,"  Tom  said  kindly. 
"  Don't  take  this  to  heart !  The  troopers 
will  rush  to  hear  you  in  Silverton,  if  they 
suspect  disapprobation  at  headquarters." 

Dare  lifted  his  head. 

"  He  is  pleased  to  declare  that  he  will 
not  interfere  with  my  work  in  the  town," 
he  cried.  "  I  wish  he  would  try  !  He  would 


77/ /•:  A'/.V;   or  iin:   ro\\-\  45 

stir  up  a  hornet's  nest  capable  of  assailing 
even  the  commanding  officer  at  Ludlow !  " 

"  Be  reasonable,"  Tom  urged.  "  You 
know  many  excellent  people  only  approve  of 
religion  when  it  is  administered  according 
to  established  forms  and  in  consecrated 
buildings." 

"If  we  should  wait  until  we  could  pro 
vide  the  building,  and  the  bishop  for  its  con 
secration,  how  many  of  the  men  and  women 
who  come  to  my  preaching  would  we  get  into 
a  church?"  Dare  demanded  vehemently. 

"  My  dear  fellow  "  — 

"  The  sermons  which  have  accomplished 
the  most  for  the  world's  gain  —  from  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  to  Peter  the  Hermit, 
to  John  Wesley  —  were  they  not  preached 
at  the  wayside  ?  " 

"  Major  Cornish's  prejudices  "  — 

"  Major  Cornish's  hostility,"  Dare  inter 
rupted.  "  Though  I  have  promised  him  to 
be  silent  in  public  as  to  the  cause  of  his 
refusal,  I  am  not  bound  to  create  a  false 
impression  with  you.  We  are  old  acquaint 
ances  and  old  enemies." 


46  THE   KING    OF    THE    TOWN 

He  rose.  He  had  regained  his  composure, 
and  a  grave  grace  which  seemed  habitual  to 
him. 

"  Mere  opposition  or  prejudice  would  nei 
ther  have  angered  nor  shaken  me,"  he  said. 
"  They  are  to  be  expected  and  conquered  in 
the  life  I  lead.  But  when  a  man  has  set 
his  feet  on  the  right  path,  it  hurts  him  to 
find  barriers  and  stumbling-blocks  built  up 
against  him  out  of  the  mistakes  and  misdeeds 
which  he  most  bitterly  repents." 

He  paused  an  instant,  during  which  Tom 
and  Edith  made  no  reply. 

"  Major  Cornish  will  not  interfere  with 
me  in  Silverton,  and  I  am  not  to  intrude 
upon  him  here,"  Dare  continued.  "  It  is  an 
armed  truce  which  he  permits !  Lamenta 
tions  are  as  weak  as  they  are  useless,  but  — 
I  had  hoped  and  prayed  for  peace." 

His  voice  trembled  on  the  last  word. 

She  knew  so  much  good  of  him  that  she 
would  not  suspect  evil,  Edith  told  her  half 
indignant,  half  sympathetic  heart.  This  mo 
ment  of  his  evident  discouragement  was 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  47 

most  suitable  for  an  assurance  of  support, 
and  an  announcement  of  the  plan  she  had 
cherished  ever  since  her  coming  to  Ludlow  ; 
while,  now  that  Major  Cornish's  favor  was 
hopeless,  the  struggle  to  win  Tom's  consent 
would  be  equally  sharp,  either  at  present  or 
in  the  future. 

"  Will  you  give  me  something  to  do  for 
your  work,  Mr.  Dare  ?  "  she  exclaimed  im 
petuously.  "  I  am  very  idle,  and,  Tom  dear, 
—  very  lonely  !  There  must  be  poor  women 
I  can  help  or  children  I  can  teach." 

" Edith,  I  could  not  allow—  " 

"  Tom,  it  is  such  work  as  our  father  al 
lowed  in  New  York." 

"New  York  isn't  Silverton.  Tell  her, 
Dare,  that  it  is  impossible !  " 

"Why  is  it  impossible?"  Dare  asked 
gently,  looking  from  brother  to  sister  with 
comprehending  swiftness.  "  Miss  Lorimer, 
I  thank  you  more  than  I  can  say,  and  I  will 
only  avail  myself  of  your  goodness  in  some 
way  to  which  your  brother  need  not  object. 
Will  you  trust  me,  Captain,  in  spite  of  your 
commanding  officer  ?  " 


48  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  I  will  reserve  my  answer  until  I  hear 
what  you  propose  for  my  sister,"  Tom  de 
clared  brusquely;  but  Edith's  smile  pro 
mised  fullest  confidence. 

"  Thank  you  both,"  Dare  said  vigorously. 
"  My  first  visit  to  Ludlow  will  prove  happy 
after  all ! " 

"  I  hope  you  will  come  again  to  see  Mrs. 
Lorimer,"  Tom  exclaimed,  his  hospitable 
soul  finding  ill-humor  untenable  toward  a 
departing  guest.  He  followed  Dare  to  the 
hall  door,  and  returned  to  confront  Edith. 

"Now,  Miss  Lorimer,"  he  demanded, 
"what  mischief  do  you  desire?" 

She  laid  a  pretty  hand  on  each  of  his 
shoulders,  and  smiled. 

"  Mischief  is  for  idleness,"  she  asserted. 
"  I  ask  for  work." 

"  You  will  never  get  my  consent  to  run 
ning  about  that  den  of  iniquity !  Eemember 
4  charity  begins  at  home,'  and  that  you  can 
find  scope  for  your  energies  in  '  laundress- 
row.'  " 

He  pinched  her  cheek  and  walked  away, 
but  came  back  immediately. 


THE  KING    OF   THE   TOWN  49 

"  There  is  no  need  to  start  gossip  concern 
ing  an  old  hostility  as  the  reason  that  Dare 
has  been  refused  permission  to  preach  here. 
The  Major  was  wise  to  wish  it  assigned  to 
religious  prejudice,  and  I  '11  wager  Dare  is 
already  regretting  that  his  anger  led  him 
into  this  confession." 

"  I  thought  Major  Cornish  superior  to 
such  tyranny." 

"  My  dear  girl,  we  don't  know  what  oc 
curred  in  their  past,  and  we  cannot  judge  of 
it,"  he  said  gravely.  "  The  Major's  record 
is  one  of  which  the  army  is  proud,  and  Dare 
is  making  a  noble  effort  in  Silverton.  We 
owe  it  to  them,  and  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  post  and  the  town,  to  refrain  from 
widening  any  breach  between  them.  I  shall 
not  even  tell  Dorothy  !  " 

The  seal  of  solemnity  which  he  evidently 
considered  that  this  final  assurance  put  upon 
his  purpose  amused  his  sister.  But  she  was 
glad  to  be  silent  on  a  subject  which  had 
disappointed  her  as  regarded  Cornish,  and 
inspired  some  unwilling  doubts  of  Dare. 


50  TEE   KISG    OF   THE    TOWX 

She  remained  silent  even  under  the  temp 
tation  of  Mrs.  Blount's  unexpected  appro 
bation  of  the  commanding  officer's  religious 
scruples. 

"  It  sounds  narrow  at  first  hearing,"  that 
volatile  lady  admitted.  "  But,  in  these  lax 
days,  it  is  admirable  to  find  a  man  so  con 
vinced  that  only  his  own  church  is  right." 

"Not  so!"  Edith  exclaimed.  "If  Dr. 
Blount  had  a  patient  whom  he  failed  to 
cure  he  would  consent  to  call  in  another 
doctor!  Why  should  we  be  less  insistent 
when  souls  are  to  be  saved  instead  of 
bodies?" 

"  Silverton  may  require  homeopathic,  or 
other  irregular  practice,"  Mrs.  Blount  re 
sponded,  laughing.  '*  But  we  are  in  no  such 
extreme  case,  even  though  we  have  not  been 
provided  with  an  orthodox  chaplain.  Ac 
cording  to  all  accounts  the  troopers  are  very 
decent  fellows  ;  and  as  for  '  officers' -row,' 
its  inhabitants  are  as  nearly  saints  as  an 
entire  lack  of  temptation  to  be  anything 
else  can  make  them ! ' 


THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN  51 

She  departed,  and  Edith  betook  herself 
to  the  piano.  Her  playing  was  apt  to  lapse 
into  memories,  more  sympathetic  than  tech 
nically  correct,  of  music  which  haunted  her 
thoughts,  and  to  give  greater  pleasure  to  a 
listener  who  was  not  a  musician  than  woidd 
a  brilliantly  accurate  performance. 

Cornish,  after  lingering  for  an  instant  out 
side  the  windows,  entered  the  hospitably 
open  doorway. 

At  the  sound  of  a  footstep  Edith  glanced 
across  her  shoulder,  and  rose. 

"  Please  go  on,"  he  said.  "  I  had  a  feel 
ing  that  I  was  eavesdropping  while  listening 
without  your  knowledge  !  But  I  hoped  that 
you  would  let  me  hear  more  if  I  confessed 
my  presence  ?  " 

"I  don't  think  I  can,"  she  answered 
lightly.  "An  audience  scatters  my  recol 
lections  ! " 

He  made  no  entreaty ;  entreaties,  she 
fancied,  were  not  in  his  line,  and  this  was  a 
subject  on  which  he  could  scarcely  command, 
even  at  Ludlow ! 


52  TII*E   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  My  sister  and  brother  have  gone  for  a 
ride,"  she  added,  to  fill  the  pause  of  his 
silence. 

"  A  fact  which  is  also  to  blame  for  my 
intrusion,"  he  said,  smiling.  "  I  am  not 
usually  inclined  to  talk  about  myself,  yet  I 
seem  most  inconsistently  desirous  to  do  so 
with  you." 

"  That  is  nice  of  you  !  " 

His  smile  vanished. 

"  You  have  been  told  my  decision  con 
cerning  the  preaching  to  the  troops,"  he 
continued  earnestly.  "  And  you  think  it  a 
deviation  from  the  course  I  had  resolved 
upon  with  regard  to  this  —  Dare  ?  " 

"  I  am  disappointed,"  she  replied  coldly. 
"  I  thought  you  magnanimous,  and  you 
force  me  to  find  you  ungenerous." 

Cornish  leaned  back  in  his  chair,  and 
gazed  wordlessly  through  the  open  window 
during  a  long  moment. 

"  Putting  aside  such  ornamental  terms  as 
magnanimity  and  generosity,"  he  said  at 
last,  "it  appears  to  me  understandable 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  53 

that,  though  I  abstain  from  interference 
with  an  influence  which  is  accomplishing  an 
undeniable  good  at  Silverton,  I  should  not 
consider  myself  justified  in  ordering  my 
troops  to  receive  religious  instruction  from 
a  man  whom  I  know  to  be  a  scoundrel,  — 
and  whom  I  suspect  to  be  using  a  fanatical 
oratory  as  a  means  of  personal  aggrandize 
ment." 

"  Do  you  consider  yourself  justified  in 
thus  accusing  him,  without  proving  your 
accusation  ?  "  Edith  exclaimed,  while  her 
bright  eyes  appealed  against  his  arbitrari 
ness  yet  more  indignantly  than  her  words. 

His  glance  met  hers  fixedly,  and  he 
flushed  slowly  over  all  his  resolute  bronzed 
countenance. 

"  I  do  not  accuse  him,  except  to  you,"  he 
murmured. 

"  I  wish  you  would  not  except  me,"  she 
answered  impatiently.  "  Of  course,  circum 
stances  have  rather  compelled  you  to  da  so. 
But  I  dislike  half  measures,  half  confidences 
—  they  are  as  bewildering  as  half  lights." 


54  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

His  glance  drooped.     He  frowned. 

"  You  are  right,"  he  said.  "  I  ask  too 
much  of  your  slight  knowledge  of  me.  Only 
an  old  friend  could  justify  me  without  evi 
dence  and,  though  I  possess  that  evidence,  I 
—  I  —  "  he  broke  off  with  a  nervous  laugh. 

"  If  speech  were  suddenly  given  to  a  man 
who  had  been  dumb  for  years,  cannot  you 
imagine  that  it  would  be  difficult  for  him  ?  " 
he  went  on  rapidly.  "  Though  we  are  al 
most  strangers,  I  should  like  to  tell  you  a 
story  which  would  gain  your  sympathy  for 
me  ;  yet  —  some  day  —  perhaps  "  — 

He  rose. 

"  Shall  we  make  a  new  beginning,  with 
one  subject  left  out  between  us,  —  for  the 
present?" 

Edith  was  aware  of  a  swift  desire  to  de 
tain  him. 

"  Here  is  my  hand  for  peace  —  not  for 
good-by,"  she  exclaimed  with  a  smile,  which 
a  pang  of  self  -  reproach  softened  won- 
drously.  "  You  have  had  a  monopoly  of 
amiability  so  far  at  this  interview  !  I  have 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  ')."> 

disputed  you,  and  criticised  and  rebuked 
you,  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Now  let  me 
confess  that  you  deserve  something  better, 
and,  as  the  best  I  can  give  is  my  singing, 
let  me  bestow  some  of  it  upon  you  imme 
diately." 

When  Tom  and  Dorothy  returned  Cor 
nish  had  not  departed.  Nor  did  he  hesitate 
to  accept  their  invitation  to  dinner  with  the 
same  cheerful  informality  with  which  it  was 
offered. 

Maiden  meditation  is  mostly  occupied  in 
our  generation  with  self  analysis.  Indeed, 
as  "  the  human  heart  changeth  not,"  it  has 
probably  been  so  occupied  since  the  world 
began.  Edith  had  forbidden  her  thoughts 
to  question  the  manner  in  which  the  lives 
of  these  two  men  had  crossed  each  other, 
beyond  the  obvious  certainty  that  Cornish 
held  himself  wronged  and  that  Dare  de 
clared  himself  misjudged.  The  question  she 
confronted  in  her  own  room  that  night  con 
cerned  her  compact  to  help  Dare  with  his 
work  at  Silverton.  How  was  it  that  she 


56  THE  KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

had  made  no  mention  of  this  compact  in 
entering  upon  her  treaty  of  friendship  with 
Cornish  ?  It  was  not  a  lack  of  frankness 
of  which  she  finally  remained  accused,  but 
an  entire  forgetfulness. 

What  had  caused  this  forgetfulness  of  a 
plan  which  had  been  dear  to  her  for  several 
weeks  ? 

What  made  the  certainty  that  Dare  would 
promptly  provide  work  for  her  less  attrac 
tive  than  when  she  had  asked  him  for  it? 

Edith's  heart  beat  faster  as  she  heard 
again  the  low  hurried  voice  which  confessed 
that  a  dumb  spirit  struggled  to  find  words 
to  claim  her  sympathy. 

Would  Cornish  be  hurt  by  a  doubt  of 
her  sincerity,  when  he  knew  that  she  was 
pledged  to  give  assistance  to  Dare?  She 
grew  restlessly  desirous  that  some  chance 
of  garrison  propinquity  should  bring  them 
together,  that  she  might  tell  him  of  her  pur 
pose,  in  such  manner  as  not  to  wound  a 
nature  which  she  had  divined  to  be  as  sensi 
tive  as  it  was  reserved. 


THE    KIXC,    Or    THE    TOWN  57 

During  the  succeeding  days  Cornish,  how 
ever,  frustrated  this  desire  by  his  devotion 
to  the  business  which  necessarily  attends 
the  installation  of  a  post-commander  and  the 
transfer  of  the  reins  of  authority  to  new 
hands. 

Very  vigorous  hands  his  subordinates  con 
sidered  them. 

His  predecessor  had  been  lax  in  many 
ways.  The  number  of  inspections,  extra 
drills,  and  stern  brief  lectures  which  Cornish 
administered  during  the  fortnight  succeed 
ing  his  arrival  did  not  tend  to  his  popularity, 
though  they  produced  a  perceptible  improve 
ment  in  military  routine. 

This  result  Tom  Lorimer  admitted  with 
dolorous  approbation  to  his  home  circle. 

"  We  were  getting  slack  and  untidy  under 
dear  old  Wharton,"  he  said  ruefully.  "  But 
by  Jove!  this  fellow  means  to  keep  us  as 
perpetually  on  the  jump  as  though  the  gen- 
eral-in-chief  —  or  all  the  redskins  of  the 
department  —  were  coming  down  upon  us 
to-morrow !  " 


58  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  I  saw  him  riding  to  quarters  just  before 
dinner,  so  gray  with  dust  that  only  mem 
ory  told  me  his  uniform  must  be  blue,  in 
spite  of  appearances  !  "  Edith  laughed. 

"  He  had  been  putting  Troop  E  through 
its  paces  out  on  the  prairie.  His  sentiments 
concerning  their  drill  this  morning  made 
Jackson  hotter  than  the  weather !  But  Cor 
nish  is  all  right,"  Tom  concluded  briskly. 
"  Though  the  men  swear  at  him  now,  they 
will  swear  by  him  presently!  Soldiers 
should  be  added  to  that  wise  proverb,  '  A 
woman,  a  spaniel,  and  a  willow  tree,  the 
harder  you  treat  them  the  better  they  be.' 
Eh,  Dolly?" 

The  next  afternoon  Mrs.  Blount,  Dorothy, 
and  Edith  were  loitering  over  five-o'clock  tea, 
when  in  the  doorway,  open  to  the  chance  of  a 
breeze,  there  stood  the  picturesque  figure  of 
Dare ;  so  picturesque,  indeed,  was  he  in  the 
cow-boy  dress,  which  makes  most  men  merely 
slovenly,  that  Edith  asked  herself  whether 
his  perception  of  that  fact  did  not  induce 
his  adoption  of  it.  For,  despite  her  convic- 


THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN  59 

tion  of  his  sincerity,  and  her  respect  for  his 
earnestness,  she  had  at  her  last  meeting  with 
him  perceived  a  certain  content  in  the  effec 
tiveness  of  his  pose. 

44  We  are  very  glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Dare," 
Dorothy  exclaimed,  with  the  cordial  frontier 
hospitality  which  her  natural  graciousness 
and  Tom's  wishes  had  rendered  easy  to  her 
acquirement.  "  There  is  a  comfortable 
chair,  and  here  is  a  cup  of  tea.  Or  you  can 
have  it  with  ice  and  rum  if  you  will  wait  an 
instant." 

He  accepted  the  tea  in  its  orthodox  com 
bination,  and  agreed  to  the  lamentations  on 
the  heat  of  the  weather. 

"The  Northwest  does  everything  thor 
oughly,"  he  said  with  a  brief  brilliant  smile. 
"  I  have  an  errand,  however,  from  which  I 
hope  such  good  results  that  no  vagary  of 
the  thermometer  could  spoil  my  pleasure  !  " 

He  looked  at  Edith  as  he  spoke,  and  she 
interpreted  his  glance. 

"  You  have  found  something  for  me  to 
do  ?  I  am  very  glad !  " 


60  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

Was  she  very  glad  in  truth  ?  Or  did  her 
conscience  declare  that  she  should  be  so  ? 

"  Thank  you,"  Dare  continued.  "  I  have 
an  urgent  need  in  which  your  help  will  be 
exceedingly  valuable." 

"  Something  for  my  sister  to  do  in  the 
town  ?  "  Dorothy  asked.  "  I  fear  that  Cap 
tain  Lorimer  "  — 

"  Tom  knows,  Dolly  dear,  that  I  begged 
Mr.  Dare  to  find  work  for  me  at  Silverton," 
Edith  interposed  hastily.  "  I  think  he  will 
not  be  quite  irreconcilable  after  a  little 
coaxing." 

"  You  shall  admit  the  harmlessness  of  my 
plan  when  I  have  explained  it,"  Dare  ex 
claimed.  "  We  have  all  of  us  heard  that 
much  of  the  influence  of  the  '  Moody  revi 
vals  '  is  due  to  Sankey's  choir.  Such  similar 
services  as  I  am  endeavoring  to  establish  at 
Silverton  should  also  be  accompanied  by 
singing  " — 

"My  husband  will  never  consent  that 
Edith  should  sing  before  a  Silverton 
crowd ! "  Dorothy  interrupted,  while  Edith 


THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN  61 

remembered  those  rows  of  upturned  faces 
which  the  moonlight  had  spiritualized  with 
out  softening,  and  wondered  whether  their 
confronting  would  appall  or  inspire  her. 

"  I  do  not  ask  that  ordeal  of  Miss  Lori- 
mer,"  Dare  replied  ;  "  I  beg  her  to  teach 
a  dozen  young  men  and  women  to  render 
God's  service  more  attractive  to  their  fellow 
creatures." 

A  strong  patience  possessed  his  look  and 
voice,  which  moved  Edith  to  forgetfulness 
of  everything  but  her  long-desired  work. 

"  I  am  eager  and  happy  to  teach  them !  " 
she  cried.  "  Can  they  come  to  me,  or  shall 
I  go  to  them  ?  " 

With  few  words  he  detailed  his  arrange 
ment  that  her  class  should  meet  her  two  or 
three  times  each  week,  on  any  days  she 
chose  and  at  the  house  of  the  manager  of 
the  "  Yankee  Doodle  mine." 

44  His  wife  in  her  own  rank  is  as  conven 
tional,  yet  as  devoutly  subject  to  higher 
creeds,  as  any  lady  at  Ludlow,"  Dare  con 
cluded,  smiling. 


62  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  May  I  come  too?  "  Mrs.  Blount  implored, 
her  erratic  sympathy  again  on  the  wing. 
"  I  can  play  for  the  singers,  and  Captain 
Lorimer  will  be  easily  reconciled  to  your 
project  if  Edith  is  properly  chaperoned." 

Dare  accepted  gratefully  and,  as  he  rose 
to  leave,  Tom  entered  and  received  with 
slight  opposition  the  announcement  of  their 
intentions. 

"  The  manager  of  the  '  Yankee  Doodle  '  is 
an  excellent  chap,"  he  said.  "  Therefore 
his  wife  "  — 

"  Must  be  an  excellent  chap  also,"  Mrs. 
Blount  laughed. 

"  It  is  work  which  will  bring  these  ladies 
in  contact  with  nothing  unpleasant,"  Dare 
asserted. 

"It  is  work  of  which  we  are  capable," 
Edith  added.  "  Consent  nicely,  Tom  dear, 
because  if  you  do  not "  — 

"  You  will  plant  a  red  flag  on  the  barri 
cades,"  Tom  exclaimed  gayly.  "If  Dr. 
Blount"  — 

"  I  '11  answer  for  Dr.  Blount,"  cried  that 
gentleman's  "  active  partner." 


THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN  63 

. "  I  yield  !  The  responsibility  is  yours, 
Dare,"  Tom  declared.  Then  he  drew  him 
self  erect  with  mock  stateliness.  "  Know, 
ladies,  that  you  have  threatened  your  com 
manding  officer  with  revolt." 

There  ensued  a  chorus  of  questions. 

"  Much  against  his  will  Cornish  has  gone 
to  take  part  in  a  court-martial  at  Depart 
ment  Headquarters." 

"  The  poor  troopers  will  have  a  little 
rest,"  Mrs.  Blount  said  rejoicingly. 

"  Do  you  fancy  I  intend  to  be  a  slug 
gard  ?  "  Tom  inquired. 

"You  didn't  overwork  them  before 
Major  Cornish  came." 

"  He  has  converted  me  to  energy,  —  and 
converts  are  more  zealous  than  those  who 
have  never  been  sinners  —  eh,  Dare  ?  " 

"Why  do  you  ask  me?" 

"  Why  ? "  repeated  the  surprised  Tom. 
"  Converts  and  sinners  suggest  religious  re 
vivals,  and  you  "  — 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  Dare  interrupted, 
coloring  hotly.  "  I  scarcely  heard  what  you 
were  saying." 


64  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

Thereupon  he  took  his  leave  somewhat 
hurriedly,  after  receiving  promises  from 
Edith  and  Mrs.  Blount  that  they  would 
meet  the  singing  class  on  the  following  day. 

"  There  is  a  history  and  a  mystery,"  Tom 
exclaimed,  shrugging  his  shoulders. 

"Just  what  we  women  had  already  di 
vined,"  Mrs.  Blount  said,  laughing.  "  We 
knew  at  first  sight  that  Mr.  Dare's  hand 
some  eyes  did  not  derive  all  their  power  of 
expression  from  a  life  of  unvaried  saint- 
liness." 

"I  wish  that  Cornish  were  here,"  Tom 
said  meditatively  when  Mrs.  Blount  was 
gone.  "  He  would  feel  bound  to  tell  me  if 
there  is  anything  in  that  fellow's  past  which 
should  prevent  me  from  trusting  my  women- 
kind  to  his  acquaintance." 

"  You  decided  that  we  must  judge  Mr. 
Dare  by  his  present,"  Edith  replied  reso 
lutely.  "Nobody  could  shrink  from  the 
task  he  has  assigned  us,  and  he  is  so  busy 
that  I  doubt  if  we  see  him  at  the  singing 
lessons." 


THE  KING   OF   THE    TOWN  65 

Tom  whistled  cynically,  but  she  wisely 
declined  this  fraternal  challenge,  and  left 
the  room. 

The  next  afternoon  was  of  ideal  summer 
weather.  A  thunder  storm  during  the  night 
had  cooled  the  air  and  laid  the  dust,  and 
the  radiant  sunshine  was  not  too  hot. 

Dr.  Blount  rode  over  to  Silverton  with  the 
two  ladies  and  consigned  them  to  the  hos 
pitality  of  Mrs.  Brown,  the  manager's  wife, 
with  a  promise  to  call  for  them  in  an  hour. 
They  found  their  class  intelligent,  decorous, 
and  possessing  a  couple  of  voices  whose  pos 
sibilities  filled  the  amateur  teachers  with 
enthusiasm.  When  future  meetings  had 
been  fixed,  and  the  class  dispersed,  Mrs. 
Brown  besought  Mrs.  Blount  and  Edith  to 
take  a  cup  of  tea,  and,  though  Dr.  Blount 
had  reappeared,  it  seemed  unkindly  to  re 
fuse.  The  cup  of  tea  developed,  according 
to  the  fashion  of  their  hostess'  social  sphere, 
into  a  substantial  repast,  spread  in  a  dining- 
room  which  was  the  pride  of  its  owner's 


66  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

heart,  and  made  as  glittering  a  display  of 
inlaid  wood  and  gilded  monograms  as  though 
it  had  been  a  palace  car. 

Mrs.  Brown's  conversation,  however,  re 
warded  her  guests'  amiability,  being  com 
posed  chiefly  of  personal  anecdotes  concern 
ing  Dare.  None  of  these  stories  antedated 
his  arrival  at  Silverton.  Yet  misgivings  as 
to  the  past  which  preceded  such  a  present 
as  they  proved,  seemed  untenable  even  to 
the  shrewd  elderly  surgeon.  Practical  help 
fulness  and  tireless  religious  zeal  mingled  in 
these  stories.  But  there  were  also  adven 
tures  where  fearless  courage  had  done  even 
more  to  capture  the  hearts  of  the  tumultuous 
vassals  whose  sovereign  he  had  undoubtedly 
become. 

"  Nobody  will  forget  what  he  did  when 
them  '  Spread  Eagle '  boys  got  into  that  fix 
through  bad  management,"  Mrs.  Brown 
said,  waving  aside  Dr.  Blount's  reference  to 
Dare's  debut  in  the  settlement. 

Like  some  arbitrary  hostesses  in  more 
fashionable  circles,  she  intended  to  entertain 


THE   A'/.V;   OF  Tin-    TO\\-\  67 

her  guests  herself,  —  and,  though  her  gram 
mar  was  fantastic,  her  style  of  narrative  was 
not  without  a  force  lacking  in  discourses  of 
greater  polish. 

"  Dare  showed  his  make  when  he  volun 
teered  to  lead  them  into  that  fiery  pit,"  she 
continued.  "  But  he  has  given  us  many  a 
token  that  he  rates  his  life  cheap  beside  a 
neighbor's  need  of  help,  —  which  is  a  tighter 
4  cinch '  on  the  town  than  his  preachings,  or 
his  club,  or  any  of  his  schemes,  though  they 
do  a  lot  of  good,  too." 

"Tell  us  some  of  his  exploits,"  cried 
Mrs.  Blount,  and  no  other  urging  was  re 
quired. 

"  It  is  maybe  six  weeks,"  she  began, 
noisily  stirring  her  third  cup  of  tea. 
"  Young  Frost,  who  is  son  to  the  boss  ranch- 

man   Of County,   he   came  down  here 

with  a  lot  of  cattle  to  ship  East.  He  is  a 
handsome,  merry  chap  that  his  father  has 
kept  pretty  strict  mostly.  This  trip,  how 
ever,  the  old  man  was  forty  miles  away,  and 
the  boy,  with  his  pockets  full  of  money, 4  fell 


68  THE  KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

among  thieves  '  —  as  the  Bible  says  !  Poker 
and  bad  whiskey  all  night  and  all  day  made 
him  soon  fit  to  paint  the  town  red.  I  had 
been  over  to  Dare's  store,  and  was  walking 
home  one  forenoon,  when  I  heard  pistol 
shots  from  Simpson's  saloon,  and  out  bun 
dled  half  a  dozen  men.  They  did  n't  go  no 
further  than  the  sidewalk.  Some  of  them 
stood  there  laughing  rather  shamefaced,  and 
some  of  them  peeped  into  the  big  window 
and  reported  proceedings.  The  shots  went 
on  popping  briskly  inside,  and,  as  I  got 
closer,  Dare  passed  me  on  the  run." 

"  Did  you  go  near  the  shooting  ?  "  Mrs. 
Blount  exclaimed,  aghast. 

"  I  've  been  a  good  bit  nearer,"  Mrs. 
Brown  answered  grimly.  "  Lord,  ladies ! 
You  belong  to  the  army,  where  they  keep 
their  women  folks  away  from  the  smell  of 
powder,  but  we  frontiersmen's  wives,  we 
get  used  to  it !  I  heard  Dare  ask  what  was 
up.  '  Young  Frost  crazy  drunk,'  somebody 
sang  out ;  '  swore  he  would  empty  Simp 
son's  place  single-handed  and  has  done  it 


THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN  69 

too  '  —  k  Except  Simpson,'  somebody  else 
chuckled.  4  Where  is  he  ? '  says  Dare.  — 
'Under  the  bar/  — 4  Hurt  ?'  —  4  Not  un 
less  with  broken  glass  !  He  went  for  cover 
when  Frost's  first  bullet  smashed  the  big 
mirror  behind  his  stand.'  Dare  walked 
to  the  door.  'See  here,  preacher,'  a  tall 
fellow  shouted,  '  he  is  dangerous.  Let 
him  alone  and  he  will  quiet  off  directly.' 
4  With  a  bullet  in  his  head,'  Dare  cried, 
facing  them,  and  I  tell  you,  ladies,  he  looked 
fine  !  *  That  is  the  way  things  quieted  off 
the  last  time  you  drove  a  lad  out  of  his  wits 
with  your  devil's  tricks  !  Stand  back ! '  he 
called  aloud  and  clear.  4 1  'm  going  in  ! ' 
and  in  he  went.  Well !  the  Almighty 
takes  care  of  his  own  sometimes !  Frost 
fired  straight  at  him,  missed  him,  and  with 
a  rush  Dare  knocked  up  the  revolver.  Then, 
as  they  grappled,  the  poor  boy  fainted  in 
Dare's  arms,  and  the  play  was  over." 

"  As  plucky  a  thing  as  ever  I  heard,"  Dr. 
Blount  exclaimed,  while  his  wife  wiped  her 
eyes. 


70  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  What  did  Mr.  Dare  do  with  young 
Frost  ? "  Edith  asked,  her  low  voice  thrill 
ing. 

"  Ah !  you  guessed  he  was  n't  likely  to 
leave  him  half  saved,  eh?"  Mrs.  Brown 
cried  delightedly.  "  He  helped  to  carry  him 
to  his  own  place,  nursed  him  through  a  sharp 
touch  of  fever,  and  sent  him  home  to  the 
ranch  with  a  lesson  the  young  fellow  will 
be  the  better  for  as  long  as  he  lives.  Those 
are  what  Dare  calls  his  4  opportunities,'  " 
she  concluded,  while  her  guests  rose  to  go, 
"  nor  he  don't  lose  any !  " 

This  story  Edith  promptly  repeated  to  her 
brother,  and  when  added  to  the  fact  that 
Dare  had  not  presented  himself  at  the  sing 
ing  lesson,  it  accomplished  much  toward 
soothing  Tom's  dislike  for  an  enterprise 
which  progressed  amazingly  during  six  or 
seven  meetings. 

The  fortnight  of  Cornish's  intended  ab 
sence  at  the  court  martial  lapsed  into  a 
third  week  before  Tom  received  a  telegram 
announcing  his  return  on  a  certain  evening. 


THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN  71 

It  was  an  exceedingly  hot  day,  and  one  ap 
pointed  for  the  class  at  Silverton.  Mrs. 
Blount  discovered  sufficient  headache  to  ab 
solve  her  from  a  shadeless  ride  which  had 
lost  its  charm  of  novelty,  but  her  good-na 
tured  husband  escorted  Edith  as  usual. 

She  had  ceased  to  expect  Dare's  presence 
on  these  occasions,  and  was  surprised  to  find 
him  at  Mrs.  Brown's  that  afternoon.  No 
thing,  however,  could  be  more  natural  than 
his  desire  to  judge  how  soon  her  pupils 
might  appear  at  his  preachings.  He  listened 
with  interest,  praised  gratefully  and  discrim 
inatingly,  and,  when  the  class  dispersed, 
accepted  Mrs.  Brown's  invitation  to  tea. 

44 1  am  glad  she  induced  you  to  stay," 
Edith  said,  as  their  hostess  vanished,  "  on 
hospitable  thought  intent."  "  You  look  over 
worked,  and  one  should  spare  one's  strength 
in  such  hot  weather  as  this." 

44 1  am  not  tired,"  Dare  replied.  44 1  am 
anxious  and  annoyed." 

u  May  I  know  why  ?  My  concern  for 
your  efforts  here  is  very  sincere." 


72  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  It  is  my  wish  to  tell  you,  —  if  Mrs. 
Brown  spares  us  time,"  he  said  with  a  fleet 
ing  smile.  "  I  have  heard  that  Major  Cor 
nish  returns  to-night,"  he  went  on  after  a 
moment's  pause,  during  which  he  grew  visi 
bly  paler. 

"  You  are  ill,"  she  exclaimed.  "  Let  me 
call"- 

"  Do  you  understand  what  a  panic  means? 
A  chill  which  shivers  with  exaggerated  ap 
prehension  ?  That  is  what  ails  me."  Dare 
had  begun  to  speak  haltingly,  but  he  con 
tinued  rapidly.  "  Do  you  remember  the 
terms  of  the  truce  between  Major  Cornish 
and  me  ?  He  would  not  interfere  with  me 
here,  and  I  must  not  intrude  upon  him  at 
Ludlow.  He  will  consider  the  assistance 
I  receive  from  the  ladies  of  the  post  as  an 
infringement  of  our  compact.  He  will  so 
tell  the  story  of  our  enmity  to  your  brother 
as  to  induce  you  to  break  off  your  work." 

Edith's  color  had  faded  also. 

"  What  I  do  will  depend,  of  course,  upon 
the  story,"  she  said  coldly. 


THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN  73 

"  Every  story  varies  with  the  bias  of  the 
person  who  tells  it,"  he  exclaimed,  a  curious 
cynicism  piercing  his  earnestness.  "  I  wish 
to  anticipate  him,  if  you  will  hear  me." 

He  broke  off  as  Mrs.  Brown's  stout  figure 
appeared. 

"  My  good  friend,"  he  said  gently,  "  I 
have  something  of  importance  to  say  to  Miss 
Lorimer.  I  am  sure  you  will  not  mind  if  I 
ask  you  to  leave  us  alone  for  a  few  mo 
ments?" 

"  Why,  no,  indeed !  "  his  hearty  admirer 
responded.  "  Whatever  you  say  goes,  Mr. 
Dare !  Just  step  out  when  you  get  ready, 
and  you  will  find  I  've  kept  your  tea  nice 
for  you  both." 

Dare  walked  restlessly  the  length  of  the 
room. 

"  It  is  like  tearing  bandages  from  a  wound 
to  speak  of  these  things,"  he  muttered,  drop 
ping  into  a  chair  beside  Edith. 

"  Must  you  speak  of  them  ?  " 

"  Either  he  or  I." 

"  Major  Cornish  would  deal  fairly  "  — 


74  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"He  could  not !      I  have  cost  him  too 
dear." 

There  was  silence. 

"We  were  boys  together,"  he  began  in 
low  tones,  which  expressed  chiefly  haste  to 
end  his  task.  "  We  were  chums  who  shared 
each  other's  pleasures  and  fought  each  other's 
battles.  At  seventeen  we  left  school.  He 
went  to  West  Point,  and  I  went  —  as  near 
destruction  as  a  boy  more  mad  than  bad 
could  go.  Chance  threw  us  together  again 
when  he  was  on  his  way  home  for  long  leave 
after  graduating.  He  was  triumphant  with 
success  and  bright  prospects.  I  was  reck 
less,  with  no  prospect  but  ruin !  He  took 
me  to  his  home,  and  kept  the  worst  of  my 
exploits  from  his  mother  and  sister.  His 
sister  "  — 

Dare's  voice  sank  quite  away. 
"  Don't  tell  me,"  she  murmured.     "  Trust 
us  not  to  judge  you  harshly." 

"  I  wish  Major  Cornish  to  know  that  I 
do  not  claim  your  friendship  under  false 
pretenses,"  he  answered. 


THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN  75 

He  leaned  his  elbows  on  his  knees,  his 
head  on  his  clasped  hands,  and  with  his  face 
thus  partially  hidden,  he  continued  the 
story. 

"  Rosamond  was  eighteen.  She  was  on 
the  verge  of  a  marriage  which  her  mother 
urged,  and  to  which  she  had  been  dutifully 
influenced.  From  the  day  we  met  that  mar 
riage  became  impossible.  It  was  equally 
impossible  to  take  either  her  mother  or  Cor 
nish  into  our  confidence.  At  the  first  word 
of  our  love  I  should  have  been  banished, 
and  even  letters  forbidden  between  us. 
After  long  hesitation,  I  persuaded  her  to 
run  away  with  me.  We  were  married. 
Rosamond  wrote  to  her  mother,  imploring 
pardon.  It  was  offered  to  her  if  she  would 
give  up  her  husband.  My  wife  refused. 
Some  little  money  she  possessed  was  sent  to 
her,  and  the  correspondence  ceased.  We 
went  to  Texas,  and  bought  a  ranch.  Things 
got  wrong  with  us  at  once.  God  knows  I 
do  not  deny  that  all  was  my  fault !  We 
quarreled.  I  left  her  much  alone.  Our 


76  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

child  died  while  I  was  absent.  When  I 
returned  she  had  gone,  leaving  a  letter  which 
swore  that  I  should  never  see  her  again. 
She  kept  her  word.  Five  years  later,  a 
clergyman  wrote  me  that  she  was  dead.  He 
forwarded  a  message  of  pardon  for  me,  a 
prayer  to  live  so  that  we  may  meet  here 
after,  and  a  small  sum  she  had  saved  by 
teaching  in  a  mission  school." 

The  short,  tense  sentences  ended.  Dare 
lifted  his  head  and  confronted  Edith. 

"  That  is  my  story,  for  which  my  own  un- 
forgiveness  is  sterner  than  Cornish's  can  be. 
Yet  it  shall  not  stand  between  me  and  the 

?* 

use  to  which  I  have  dedicated  such  days  as 
remain  to  me." 

He  sprang  to  his  feet.  His  pale  face 
flushed.  A  light  burned  in  his  eyes,  as 
when  he  preached  to  listening  Silverton. 

"My  wife,  whose  heart  I  broke,  forgave 
me.  The  Lord  my  God,  against  whom  I 
have  greatly  sinned,  will  not  withhold  his 
pardon  from  my  repentance.  What  are 
this  man's  wrongs  that  he  should  cherish 


THE   KING   OF   THE    TOWN  77 

his  wrath  and  his  hope  for  my  defeat,  though 
I  have  humbled  myself  to  him  ?  —  I  will 
make  that  wrath  and  that  hope  vain !  "  he 
broke  off  sharply.  "  Will  you  too  turn  aside 
from  a  sinner  who  asks  only  that  his  peni 
tence  may  be  allowed  to  work  for  the  good 
of  others?" 

Edith  answered  mutely  with  her  tears. 
There  was  a  tap  of  Dr.  Blount's  whip-handle 
on  the  door.  Dare  recovered  his  composure 
instantly.  She  drew  down  her  veil,  and  the 
surgeon  observed  nothing. 

But  Mrs.  Brown's  tea  party  was  less 
cheerily  prolonged  than  that  excellent  wo 
man's  hospitality  desired. 

When  Dare  lifted  Edith  to  her  saddle, 
she  met  his  sombre  eyes  frankly. 

"  I  shall  come  on  Thursday,  —  storm  or 
shine,"  she  said. 

Thus  she  unfurled  her  standard,  and  re 
solved  that  she  would  defend  it. 

Dr.  Blount,  as  happens  with  the  husbands 
of  talkative  wives,  was  inclined  to  silence, 
and,  during  their  homeward  ride,  Edith 


78  THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN 

filled  the  gaps  in  Dare's  story  with  many 
imaginings. 

The  figure  of  that  proud  Eosamond  who 
loved  faithfully  and  resented  bitterly  was 
intensely  present  to  her.  She  could  fancy 
the  sister's  likeness  to  the  brother;  for 
Cornish  might  be  yet  more  unrelenting  to  a 
love  which  had  failed  him  than  to  a  hatred 
which  he  believed  justified. 

Edith's  heart  grew  very  tender  toward 
this  woman,  too  stern  to  pardon  when  the 
limit  she  set  for  pardon  was  passed,  too 
loyal  to  go  home  to  the  welcome  which 
awaited  her  return  alone,  —  but  through 
all  those  years  of  absence  loving  her  hus 
band,  toiling  for  him,  yearning  for  him  even 
in  death. 

And  Dare?  —  if  he  had  sinned  he  had 
suffered  and  repented.  Surely  no  repent 
ance  could  be  better  proved  than  this,  con 
fessed  with  such  anguish,  and  whose  results 
were  uplifting  a  whole  community  day  by 
day. 

Yet  Cornish  would  not  accept  this  proof  ! 


THE   KING   OF   THE    TOWN  70 

He  had  called  it  a  scheme  for  self-aggran 
dizement. 

Ah,  well!  The  friend  whose  trust  had 
been  betrayed,  the  brother  who  knew  that 
his  sister's  life  had  been  blighted,  must  find 
forgiveness  bitterly  difficult.  Would  that 
dumb  spirit  which  possessed  him  permit  him 
to  tell  her  his  version  of  the  story  when  she 
next  saw  him  ? 

She  would  be  true  to  both  these  men  who 
had  asked  for  her  friendship ;  if,  through 
her  mediation,  they  should  come  to  a  recon 
ciliation,  that  might  be  a  work  to  thank 
God  for  bestowing  upon  her. 


Ill 

THAT  evening  at  dinner  Tom  Loriraer 
announced  Cornish's  return. 

"  By  Jove,"  he  declared  complacently, 
"  we  must  be  a  pleasanter  set  than  I 
thought,  for  he  is  unmistakably  glad  to  get 
back  to  us." 

"  He  likes  his  work,  I  daresay,"  Edith 
suggested. 

"  No,  he  had  not  the  manner  of  a  fellow 
settling  to  congenial  tasks.  His  interest  in 
the  post  gossip  was  like  a  home-coming," 
—  a  statement  with  which  Edith  was  con 
tent,  though  she  abstained  from  asking  her 
self,  after  her  usual  introspective  fashion, 
the  value  to  her  of  Major  Cornish's  satisfac 
tion  in  his  return  to  Ludlow. 

On  the  following  morning  a  letter  from 
Dare  was  brought  to  her  at  the  breakfast 
table,  —  a  letter  which  so  startled  her,  that 


THE  KING   OF   TUE   TOWN  81 

with  effort  she  was  barely  able  to  avoid  at 
tracting  attention  from  Tom  or  Dorothy. 

"  I  intended  yesterday  to  tell  you  merely 
such  details  of  my  past  life  as  produced 
Major  Cornish's  hostility  to  me.  The  five 
years  which  elapsed  between  my  wife's 
flight  and  her  death  have  no  connection  with 
this  hostility,  and  I  spared  myself  the  pain 
of  shocking  you  yet  further.  I  feel  now, 
however,  that  I  have  been  unfair  in  appear 
ing  to  confess  to  you  all  that  might  pre 
judice  you,  without  acknowledging  so  black 
a  stain  as  I  concealed  from  you.  During 
those  five  years  I  was  a  convict  at  the  Texas 
State  Penitentiary,  to  which  I  had  been 
condemned  for  shooting  a  man  in  a  gam 
bling  fight,  soon  after  my  wife  left  me,  —  a 
deed  for  whose  poor  excuse  I  can  say  that 
it  was  done  in  self-defense.  This  sentence 
seemed  on  its  imposition  so  terrible  a  con 
summation  of  my  debasement  that  I  did 
not  willingly  survive  it.  Yet  this  sentence 
proved  to  be  the  mercy  of  my  God.  Broken 
in  mind  and  body,  I  came  under  the  influ- 


82  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

ence  of  the  chaplain,  whose  blessed  teaching 
brought  to  me  the  one  remedy  for  my  de 
spair,  while  those  years  of  regular  labor  and 
restraint  restored  me  to  the  physical  vigor 
needed  for  the  purpose  with  which  he  in 
spired  me.  Several  months  of  my  term 
were  remitted  to  me  for  good  conduct  on  the 
same  day  that  I  was  told  of  my  wife's  death. 
That  was  two  years  since,  and  I  joined  a 
mission  at  a  mining  town  in  Pennsylvania, 
where  I  worked  until  I  was  considered  fit  to 
go  on  without  direction.  Then  I  came  here. 
I  hope  that  the  loyalty  of  those  who  believe 
in  my  work  here  will  remain  unshaken,  even 
if  the  story  of  my  sins  and  their  punishment 
is  made  public ;  sinners  are  more  convinced 
of  the  force  of  repentance  than  those  who 
have  less  erred.  But  to  lose  your  sympathy 
and  your  brother's  will  be  a  grief  to  me,  — 
and  I  should  have  my  hands  strengthened 
for  the  warfare  I  wage  daily,  by  all  who 
wish  that  cause  well.  DARE. 

"  My  name  is  Darrell,  and  the  change  was 
owing  to  the  advice  of  those  whom  I  am 


THE  KING    OF   THE    TOWN  83 

bound  to  consult,  but  I  have  always  been 
ready  to  encounter  the  consequences  of 
recognition." 

The  morning  passed  to  Edith  as  in  a 
dream.  She  was  shocked  through  every 
instinctive  aversion.  Yet  she  was  aware 
that  she  meant  to  defend  yesterday's  resolve, 
though  it  would  assuredly  be  opposed  by 
those  who  had  a  right  to  seek  to  influence 
her. 

Her  belief  in  Dare's  sincerity  was  un 
shaken. 

Why  then  should  she  shrink  aside  from 
him  because  he  admitted  himself  to  be  a 
greater  sinner?  Were  there  not  sinners 
among  those  who,  following  the  steps  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  became  the  saints  whose 
life  and  death  do  yet  benefit  the  world  ? 

Was  not  Dare's  repentance  also  bearing 
visible  fruit  ? 

With  a  pang  she  had  no  need  to  analyze 
she  decided  to  resist  any  adverse  influence 
which  Cornish  might  exert  upon  Tom,  and, 
though  she  dreaded  the  struggle,  she  knew 


84  THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN 

that  she  should  find  courage  when  required. 
Nor  was  she  mistaken. 

Tom  returned  to  luncheon  severe  of  mien, 
and  summoned  her  to  an  interview  in  his 
particular  sanctum.  Cornish,  having  heard 
of  Mrs.  Blount's  and  Miss  Lorimer's  visits 
to  the  singing  class  at  Silverton,  had  repeated 
briefly  to  their  masculine  protectors  the 
chief  facts  of  Dare's  story.  Tom  reported 
that  he  had  done  this  with  such  obvious  dis 
like  to  the  task  as  showed  that  only  a  sense 
of  duty  had  compelled  him  to  speak  of  his 
sister's  sorrows. 

Tom's  verdict  was  that  a  civil  note  must 
be  written  to  Dare,  explaining  that,  for 
various  reasons,  the  ladies  found  it  impossible 
to  continue  their  instruction  to  the  singing 
class. 

With  a  flutter  at  her  throat  Edith  flung 
down  her  gage  of  battle. 

"  Mr.  Dare  told  me  the  whole  story,"  she 
said  slowly.  "  It  is  one  of  the  saddest  that 
can  be  imagined,  and  one  which  Major 
Cornish  cannot  judge  dispassionately.  But, 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  85 

knowing  what  we  do  of  Mr.  Dare's  life  at 
Silverton,  I  see  no  reason  why  I  should  give 
up  a  good  work  merely  because  he  directed 
me  to  it." 

"  Are  you  mad,  Edith  ?  "  Tom  exclaimed. 
"  A  man-slayer,  an  ex-convict !  —  Those  are 
facts  which  Cornish's  resentment  does  not 
blacken." 

"  Between  us  and  those  facts  of  the  past 
stands  a  present  whose  influence  I  have 
heard  you  praise." 

"I  admire  it  heartily.  Even  Cornish 
admits  that  his  position  requires  formal 
public  consideration  from  us,  and  privately 
I  shall  continue  to  meet  him  as  though 
I  had  never  heard  this  story.  But  a  re 
formed  scapegrace,  whose  zeal  and  abilities 
may  be  valuable  at  Silverton,  is  not  necessa 
rily  a  fit  associate  for  my  sister." 

"  I  have  promised  to  prepare  this  choir 
for  him." 

"  You  can  write  him  that  I  have  with 
drawn  my  consent." 

"  That  would  be  a  pretext  whose  real 
meaning  he  could  readily  guess." 


86  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  Let  him  guess  !  " 

"No,  Tom,  I  am  pledged  to  my  self-re 
spect  for  my  own  word,  which  I  gave  freely." 

Tom  lost  his  temper. 

"  I  daresay  you  would  be  less  obstinate 
if  this  adventurer  had  a  squint  or  a  snub 
nose !  " 

«  Tom  ! " 

"  That  is  what  our  friends  will  say." 

"  You  should  not  set  them  the  example  !  " 

With  which  she  made  an  exit  in  good 
order,  for  Tom  was  already  ashamed  of 
having  displayed  an  anxiety  which  he  in 
tended  to  keep  to  himself. 

Edith's  battle,  however,  was  only  begun. 
Dorothy  invaded  her  retreat  with  tearful 
petitions  against  vexing  Tom  in  a  case 
where  he  was  so  clearly  right,  as  if  there 
could  be  any  imaginable  case,  that  did  not 
concern  the  management  of  Baby,  where 
she  would  consider  him  wrong  !  Later,  too, 
Mrs.  Blount  appeared,  full  of  enjoyable 
chatter  over  a  crisis  which  relieved  the  dull 
ness  of  Ludlow,  and  divided  between  de- 


TEE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN  87 

light  at  the  idea  of  rebelling  from  the  law 
ful  authorities,  and  amused  dismay  at  the 
suggestion  of  taking  part  with  an  ex-convict. 

This  half-hearted  support,  the  strenuous 
opposition  of  the  others,  and  the  vague  mis 
giving  of  which  she  was  herself  conscious, 
rendered  Edith's  day  long  and  weary. 
After  dinner,  to  escape  the  tacit  reproach 
of  her  brother's  gloomy  countenance,  she 
walked  through  the  windows  of  the  drawing- 
room  to  a  veranda  which  extended  the 
length  of  "  officers'-row,"  and  overlooked  the 
ramparts.  The  commandant's  quarters  were 
two  doors  beyond  Captain  Lorimer's,  and, 
as  she  sank  into  a  low  wicker  chair,  she  saw 
Cornish  lounging  outside  his  own  domain. 

He  threw  away  his  cigar  and  came  toward 
her. 

"  Good-evening,"  he  said  alertly.  "  May 
I  make  you  a  visit  here  ?  " 

She  laid  her  hand  assentingly  on  the 
chair  beside  her. 

"  My  brother  says  that  you  are  glad  to  get 
back  to  Ludlow  in  spite  of  our  dullness  ?  " 


88  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  Very  glad !  The  court  martial  was  a 
business  we  were  all  pleased  to  conclude." 

"  Whose  case  was  it  ?  " 

"  Captain  Watson's  of  the th  Cavalry. 

An  excellent  record  he  had  until  garrison 
idleness  ruined  him." 

"  What  was  the  result  ?  " 

"Acquittal  on  the  worst  charge,  which 
concerned  a  confusion  in  his  troop  accounts, 
and  a  severe  reprimand  for  various  lesser 
misdoings.  But  he  will  resign,  poor  old 
chap,  that  is  understood." 

"  You  were  sorry  for  him  ?  " 

"  So  was  every  one,  except  the  Judge  Ad 
vocate  !  He,  fortunately,  became  entangled 
in  his  own  '  red-tape,'  and  we  got  poor  Wat 
son  off  while  he  was  extricating  himself." 

"  And  you  were  sorry  for  Captain  Wat 
son  ?  You  wanted  him  to  escape  humilia 
tion  ?  " 

"  Why  not  ?  He  has  done  firstrate  field 
service  "  —  Cornish  paused.  The  meaning 
of  her  reproachful  gaze  flashed  upon  him,  and 
the  lines  of  his  face  grew  harder. 


THE   KING   OF   THE    TOWN  89 

"  There  can  be  no  comparison  between 
Captain  Watson's  case  and  that  of  Mr.  — 
Dare." 

"  None,  except  in  the  disproportion  of 
your  sympathy  !  The  cause  of  my  friend 
rests  on  higher  claims  than  yours  can  make. 
Mine  is  daily  proving  the  strenuousness  of 
his  self-conquest.  Yours  struggles  merely 
to  avoid  the  consequences  of  his  misdeeds." 

"  Do  not  call  him  your  friend !  "  Cornish 
exclaimed. 

"  He  is  my  friend,  in  so  far  that  I  believe 
his  sincere  repentance,  and  that  I  honor  the 
mission  he  is  accomplishing  here,"  she  de 
clared  earnestly.  "  When  he  told  me  his 
story  "  — 

"He  has  told  it  to  you?" 

"  Even  you  would  have  softened  to  him, 
could  you  have  heard  him." 

"  I  soften  to  him ! "  Cornish  repeated 
bitterly.  "  It  required  all  my  certainty  of 
the  fatal  consequences  of  a  row  between  the 
chief  authorities  here  and  at  Silverton  to  keep 
my  hands  from  his  throat  when  he  tried  his 
dramatic  narrative  on  me." 


90  THE    KING    OF    THE    TOWN 

"  I  feel  how  unpardonable  he  must  seem 
to  you,"  she  murmured.  "  He  accused  him 
self  of  breaking  your  sister's  heart." 

"  Picturesque  confession  !  But  the  details 
were  not  artistic.  He  left  her  alone  with  a 
sick  child  and  a  besotted  Chinese  servant. 
The  child  grew  worse.  My  sister  rode 
twenty  miles,  with  the  child  in  her  arms,  to 
find  a  doctor.  The  child  died  an  hour  after 
she  reached  the  town,  —  while  her  husband 
was  raving  at  a  tavern  after  a  week's  excess. 
These  particulars  I  learned  from  her  ac 
quaintances  there,  when  I  went  to  Texas  to 
search  for  her  after  he  was  sent  to  prison 
for  manslaughter." 

"  She  forgave  him  before  she  died." 

"  She  did  not  know  that  which  she  would 
never  have  forgiven  him  —  or  herself." 
Cornish's  voice  quivered.  "  My  mother  was 
found  dead,  —  holding  a  newspaper  in  which 
she  had  read  the  announcement  of  his  sen 
tence  to  the  penitentiary,  and  that  no  clue 
could  be  discovered  to  the  whereabouts  of 
his  young  wife,  who  had  fled  from  his  ill 
treatment  a  few  weeks  previously." 


THE    KING    Or    THE    TOWN  91 

He  averted  his  face,  and  there  was  si 
lence. 

Presently  Edith  leaned  forward,  and  very 
softly  touched  the  brown  hand  which  was 
clinched  on  the  arm  of  his  chair.  His  fin 
gers  closed  over  hers,  but  he  neither  spoke 
nor  looked  at  her  until  she  drew  back. 
Then  he  turned  and,  with  a  pang  both  sharp 
and  sweet,  she  saw  the  tears  on  his  cheek. 

"  It  seems  wonderful  —  yet  quite  natural 
—  that  I  should  come  to  you  with  a  grief  of 
which  I  could  never  talk  to  any  one,"  he  mur 
mured,  his  eyes  meeting  hers  lingeringly. 

This  was  the  instant  of  supreme  temp 
tation  for  Edith's  loyalty  to  the  course  on 
which  she  had  determined.  To  repulse, 
ever  so  slightly,  the  half  spontaneous,  half 
involuntary  confidence  of  Cornish,  hurt  her 
as  though  by  so  doing  she  risked  losing 
something  utterly  her  own  and  belonging 
to  her  inmost  life.  But  the  thought  of  the 
peace  to  which  she  might  lead  him  succored 
her  failing  resolution. 

"  If  he  has  no  knowledge  that  your  mo- 


92  THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN 

ther's  death  separates  you  thus  cruelly  "  — 
she  began  after  a  little. 

"  You  still  defend  him  ?  " 

"  No,  no  !  Not  defend  him ! "  she  ex 
claimed  —  and  the  rising  moon  showed  her 
fair  vehemence.  "  It  is  for  you  I  contend, 
—  for  the  comfort  to  yourself  if  you  can 
pardon  him.  Don't  you  know  that  the  bit 
terness  would  go  out  of  your  grief  for  your 
dead,  if  you  can  believe  that  his  life  is  a 
long  remorse  for  the  heartbreak  he  caused 
them?" 

Cornish  gazed  dumbly  away  from  her 
across  the  post  ramparts,  to  the  wide  silvery 
stretches  of  sky  and  hillsides  which  lay 
beyond. 

"Remember  that,  trusting  his  promises 
of  reform,  I  forced  all  that  came  afterward 
upon  them,"  he  said  at  last,  and  the  pain  of 
the  low,  slow  tones  was  unutterable.  "  I 
brought  him  as  my  friend  to  my  mother's 
house." 

"  Surely  you  do  not  torture  yourself  with 
such  an  accusation  ?  " 


THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN  93 

"But  I  do,"  he  said  gently.  "If  it  is 
hard  to  forgive  myself,  it  is  impossible  to 
forgive  him  —  or  to  re-create  a  belief  whose 
destruction  cost  me  so  dearly." 

He  rose. 

"  Please,  please  do  not  doubt  my  sympa 
thy,  my  friendship  for  you,  because  I  am 
sorry  for  him  also,"  she  cried  with  a  little  sob. 

"  No  revelation  of  yourself  could  make  me 
doubt  you,"  he  answered.  "  You  are  truth 
incarnate.  But  such  perfect  truth  is  easy  to 
deceive." 

With  which  he  lifted  her  hand  to  his  lips, 
and  walked  down  the  veranda  to  his  quarters. 

And  Edith  wondered  vaguely  in  what 
dream,  that  had  always  been  familiar,  a 
man  with  shining  eyes  had  so  kissed  her 
hand,  while  her  whole  being  thrilled  to  his 
touch  1 

There  ensued  three  or  four  days  of  tacit 
hostility  between  Edith  and  her  family. 
She  met  Cornish  only  once,  at  a  dinner 
given  by  Mrs.  Blount,  where  he  ably 


94  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

seconded  her  efforts  to  steer  safely  through 
the  shoals  and  rapids  of  allusion  to  the 
singing  class,  whither  their  mischief -loving 
hostess  continually  led  conversation. 

The  afternoon  succeeding  this  dinner  was 
that  appointed  for  the  next  expedition  to 
Silverton,  and  in  the  morning  Mrs.  Blount 
appeared  to  confess  her  capitulation  to  an 
assertion  of  marital  authority.  Moreover 
she  declared  her  gradual  conversion  to  the 
perception  that  Dare's  antecedents,  though 
not  unfit  preparation  for  his  mission  at 
Silverton,  were  scarcely  suited  to  intimate 
association  with  the  ladies  of  Ludlow.  Like 
all  renegades  she  was  eager  to  proselyte, 
but  Edith  remained  stanch.  She  admitted 
that  Mrs.  Blount's  desertion  crippled  her 
facilities  for  going  to  the  town.  Yet  she 
insisted  that  she  must  fulfill  her  promise  to 
prepare  the  choir,  —  a  work  which  she  hoped 
to  accomplish  in  a  couple  of  additional 
meetings. 

The  immediate  need  was  to  find  means  of 
getting  to  the  class  that  afternoon.  Tom, 


THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN  95 

being  "  officer  of  the  day,"  was  inaccessible 
either  to  coaxing  or  coercion,  while  Dr. 
Blount  had  of  course  become  impossible, 
and,  for  some  occult  reason  of  the  quarter 
master,  the  ambulance  was  also  forbidden. 

Finally  Edith  wrote  to  Lieutenant  Gwynne, 
with  whom  she  often  rode,  asking  him  to 
accompany  her  to  Silverton. 

Thus  it  was  arranged,  and  they  set  forth 
at  the  appointed  hour. 

Some  accident  to  the  machinery  of  the 
"  Spread  Eagle "  mine  had  bestowed  a 
holiday  upon  its  employees.  The  long 
squalid  street  of  the  town  was  adorned  by 
numerous  groups  of  loafers,  and  Edith  be 
came  promptly  aware  that  a  rumor  of  the 
opposition  she  had  surmounted  in  coming  to 
her  class  had  been  wafted  to  these  grimy 
citizens.  Nor  did  they  hesitate  from  mani 
festing  their  approbation  of  herself  and  her 
object,  as  they  understood  them. 

"  She  ain't  afraid  to  stand  up  for  those 
she  likes,  if  she  is  a  lady !  "  Such  was  the 
first  remark  intended  for  her  hearing. 


96  THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN 

"  She  has  got  eyes  to  see  that  the  best  of 
them  officer  chaps  ain't  fit  to  black  Dare's 
boots."  This  was  the  next  individual  utter 
ance  of  general  opinion. 

Gwynne  laughed  confusedly,  and  she  ex 
claimed  :  — 

"  Let  us  ride  faster ;  I  am  afraid  those 
men  are  drunk !  " 

One  of  them  gave  every  sign  of  so  being, 
for,  as  she  spoke,  he  reeled  forward,  waving 
a  battered  cap. 

"  Three  cheers  for  the  preacher's  sweet 
heart  ! "  he  shouted. 

Edith  flushed  hotly,  and  Gwynne  pulled 
in  his  horse  —  then  with  a  wiser  impulse 
urged  him  on  again. 

"  The  fool  was  crazy  drunk  !  Not  worth 
thrashing,"  he  said  deprecatingly  a  moment 
later,  while  he  lifted  her  from  the  saddle 
before  Mrs.  Brown's  door.  "  I  should  have 
made  you  more  uncomfortable  !  " 

"  Of  course,"  she  assented  vehemently. 
"  It  would  be  absurdly  beneath  us  to  resent 
such  impertinence." 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  97 

He  promised  to  return  for  her  at  the  end 
of  an  hour  and  left  her. 

To  Edith's  awakened  perception  of  Silver- 
ton's  hunger  for  romance,  Mrs.  Brown's 
greeting  demonstrated  a  caressing  compre 
hension  which  was  offensive,  and  she  de 
tected  a  new  element  of  gushing  sentiment 
among  her  feminine  pupils.  Upon  both 
these  unwelcome  manifestations  she  set  an 
effectual  blight  by  the  cold  announcement 
that  this  was  her  farewell  lesson. 

She  had  not  indeed  been  aware  of  the 
definiteness  of  her  decision  until  she  felt 
compelled  to  declare  it !  But,  when  the 
class  dispersed  after  a  somewhat  embarrass 
ing  leave-taking,  she  waited  impatiently  for 
the  arrival  of  Dare,  who  had  told  Mrs. 
Brown  to  expect  him.  It  would  be  pos 
sible  to  speak  frankly  to  him  of  the  whole 
situation,  Edith  thought.  However  both 
Ludlow  and  Silverton  misread  her  motives, 
she  was  confident  that  he  comprehended 
them. 

She  was  right. 


98  THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN 

His  dark  eyes  met  her  with  a  sincere 
regret  which  had  no  tincture  of  self -con 
sciousness,  when  he  entered  presently. 

"  I  am  more  vexed  than  I  can  say  that 
you  should  have  been  annoyed,"  he  ex 
claimed.  "  I  knew  that  your  faithful  kind 
ness  would  encounter  opposition  among  your 
own  people,  but  I  never  suspected  that  such 
a  stupidity  as  this  could  have  gained  belief 
here  !  It  is  intolerable  ;  I "  — 

"  Please  do  nothing  concerning  it,"  Edith 
interrupted  hurriedly.  "  Like  any  other 
form  of  gossip  it  will  be  made  worse  by 
treating  it  seriously." 

"  You  will  not  abandon  us  ?  " 

"The  class  can  be  ready  for  what  you 
require  of  them,  if  you  will  give  them  a 
couple  of  rehearsals,"  she  said,  turning  from 
his  keen  glance  to  the  open  window.  "  They 
have  aptitude  and  zeal,  and  their  progress 
justifies —  What  is  that?"  she  broke  off 
abruptly. 

The  sudden  clamor  which  had  startled 
her  brought  Dare  to  her  side. 


THE  KING   OF   THE    TOWN  99 

A  curious  alert  expectancy  pervaded 
the  street.  Various  groups  of  passers  had 
halted,  and  were  staring  in  the  direction 
whence  came  an  echo  of  jeering  laughter, 
taunting  voices,  and  trampling  feet,  —  a 
tumult  of  noise  which  was  immediately  em 
bodied  in  a  mob,  who  swept  down  the  wide 
street  surrounding  an  advancing  horseman. 
Through  the  midst  of  the  shouted  abuse 
which  chiefly  concerned  his  rumored  opposi 
tion  to  Dare,  Cornish  rode  slowly.  Erect 
and  stately,  he  restrained  his  irritated  horse, 
showing  no  sign  of  seeing  or  hearing  his  as 
sailants,  and  obviously  declining  to  gratify 
them  by  an  attempt  to  escape. 

Perhaps  this  apparent  invulnerability, 
perhaps  the  sight  of  Dare  at  the  window 
from  which  Edith  had  shrunk  away,  insti 
gated  the  roughs  to  a  further  display  of 
animosity.  Somebody  caught  up  a  handful 
of  the  refuse  which  littered  the  place,  and 
flung  it  at  Cornish.  It  struck  his  horse, 
which,  already  nervous,  shied  violently,  and 
threw  him  to  the  ground. 


100  THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN 

Edith  sprang  to  the  door,  but  Dare  passed 
her,  with  an  imperative  — 

"  Stay  here  !  " 

The  rabble  had  closed,  half  delighted, 
half  dismayed,  around  Cornish's  prostrate 
figure. 

Dare  thrust  them  aside. 

"  Stand  back,  you  curs  !  "  he  cried  fiercely. 

"Curs?"  yelled  a  savage  voice.  "It  be 
for  you  we  bark,  —  because  he  works  agin 
you ! " 

"  Do  you  think  this  disgraceful  outbreak 
will  help  my  work?  I  who  labor  among 
you  night  and  day  for  the  law  and  order 
which  he  represents  here  !  Did  you  expect 
me  to  tolerate  such  an  attack  on  him?  I 
am  ashamed  that  my  teaching  has  so  failed 
with  you.  Go  home !  Let  me  hear  no  more 
of  this,  —  or,  by  the  name  of  my  Master, 
I  will  leave  you  to  your  fate,  as  He  left  the 
chosen  people  who  would  not  understand 
his  message." 

They  slunk  away,  half  sullen,  half  afraid, 
wholly  subdued  by  the  passionate  rebuke  of 


THE  KING    OF   THE   TOWN  101 

the  man  whose  devotion  had  won  him  sov 
ereignty  among  them. 

Cornish  had  risen  while  Dare  was  speak 
ing.  One  of  his  tormentors  apologetically 
brought  him  his  cap.  Another  deferentially 
led  up  his  horse,  whose  flight  had  been 
stopped.  Mrs.  Brown  volubly  proffered  a 
glass  of  wine. 

But  Cornish  heeded  none  of  them.  Dust- 
stained,  very  pale,  visibly  shaken  by  his  fall, 
he  confronted  Dare  with  a  steadfastness 
beyond  the  imitation  of  the  "King  of  the 
Town,"  flushed  and  triumphant  though  the 
latter  was,  with  consciousness  of  power  and 
generous  use  of  it. 

"  I  have  to  thank  you  for  your  protec 
tion,"  Cornish  said  clearly,  and  laid  his 
hand  on  his  horse's  bridle. 

The  still  terrified  animal  recoiled,  and 
Dare  interposed  eagerly. 

"You  are  not  fit  to  ride  yet" —  he 
paused,  for  Edith  came  forward  from  the 
doorway,  and  Cornish  started  sharply. 

"  My  horse  will   be   quiet  when  I  have 


102  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

mounted,"  lie  said.  "Miss  Lorimer,  I  re 
gret  that  you  should  "  — 

"  My  horse  is  here  also,"  she  interrupted. 
"Please  take  me  home  with  you  !  " 

"Will  you  permit  me  to  ride  with  you 
also,  Miss  Lorimer  ? "  Dare  entreated. 
"  Some  of  those  fellows  are  in  an  ugly 
mood." 

Cornish  swung  himself  into  the  saddle 
with  an  alertness  of  which  the  moment  be 
fore  he  had  seemed  incapable. 

"Mr.  Dare  will  be  a  safer  escort,  Miss 
Lorimer,"  he  said,  and,  lifting  his  cap,  he 
rode  down  the  street. 

But  Edith's  anxiety  was  too  keen  to  be 
repulsed  by  his  desertion. 

With  a  hurried  good-by  to  Mrs.  Brown, 
she  allowed  Dare  to  assist  her  in  mounting  ; 
when  he  followed  her,  however,  as  she  turned 
away,  she  glanced  at  him  impatiently. 

"  I  wish  you  would  not  come,"  she  ex 
claimed.  "  You  must  understand  how  hard 
it  was  for  him  to  thank  you  just  now.  Why 
do  you  force  yourself  upon  him  ?  " 


THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN  103 

"  Because  he  may  need  me.  He  is  hurt ; 
he  is  scarcely  able  to  keep  his  seat." 

Nor  could  she  dispute  this  assertion ;  for 
as  Cornish  passed  beyond  the  staring,  strag 
gling  town  his  horse's  pace  slackened,  his 
upright  figure  slouched  wearily,  —  and  three 
miles  of  shelterless  road  lay  between  him 
and  Ludlow! 

Her  lips  quivered,  as  her  gaze  followed 
him. 

"  Don't  fear,"  Dare  said  gently.  "  He  will 
hold  out,  I  think,  —  he  was  always  plucky!" 

Some  subtle  tone  in  his  voice  for  an  in 
stant  disputed  her  watching  of  that  droop 
ing  rider.  The  dark  eyes  which  confronted 
her  hasty  look  were  very  soft. 

"  Did  n't  I  tell  you  that  we  were  chums 
for  years  ?  "  he  murmured.  "  Did  n't  you 
guess  that,  though  he  hates  me,  my  desire 
to  be  friends  again  is  not  altogether  self- 
interest  ?  " 

Vaguely  Edith  was  touched  ;  but,  as  he 
spoke,  Cornish  swayed  in  the  saddle,  and 
his  horse  stood  still. 


104  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  He  will  fall !  "  she  exclaimed,  and  was 
rapidly  beside  him. 

Cornish  drew  himself  erect. 

"  You  have  overtaken  me  !  "  he  said,  with 
a  stiff,  white  smile. 

"Don't  speak!  Don't  try  to  hide  from 
us  that  you  are  hurt.  Let  us  ride  with 
you,"  she  entreated  brokenly. 

His  glance  wandered  to  the  compassionate 
enemy  close  at  his  other  hand,  ready  to  catch 
his  bridle  should  it  slip  from  his  relaxing 
grasp. 

"There  is  not  much  wrong  with  me," 
he  muttered,  "and  you  must  wish  to  ride 
faster." 

She  did  not  answer.  Nor  did  either  of 
them  speak  again  during  the  slow  length  of 
those  three  miles.  Mechanically  Cornish  re 
turned  the  sentry's  salute  as  they  entered  the 
post  gateway,  and  advanced  up  the  parade 
rigid  and  straight  as  a  man  in  a  trance. 

But  he  passed  Tom  Lorimer's  door,  and 
that  astonished  officer's  greeting,  without 
sign,  while  his  companions  paused. 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  105 

"  Not  you  !  "  Edith  exclaimed  when  Dare 
would  have  gone  on.  "  Tom !  Major  Cor 
nish  has  had  a  bad  fall." 

Tom  sprang  away  before  her  words  were 
fully  uttered. 

Cornish  had  halted  at  his  own  quarters, 
and  was  slowly  climbing  down  from  the  sad 
dle.  But  as  he  stood  upright  he  staggered, 
fell  helplessly  into  Tom's  stalwart  embrace, 
and  fainted  away. 

Dare  rushed  forward.  Dorothy  broke 
into  a  confusion  of  questions,  and  Edith, 
struggling  with  her  impotent  longing  to  fol 
low  them,  was  bitterly  resentful  that,  when 
the  two  men  carried  Cornish  into  the  house, 
his  unconscious  head  lay  on  his  enemy's 
breast. 

She  trembled  violently,  and  when  Dorothy, 
perceiving  this,  led  her  to  the  drawing-room 
and  forced  her  gently  into  an  armchair,  she 
burst  into  tears. 

Dorothy's  tenderness  soon  evoked  a  his 
tory  of  the  afternoon,  and  of  her  resolve 
to  abandon  the  singing  class,  and  they  were 


106  THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN 

more  at  ease  with  each  other  than  they  had 
been  for  some  time.  Tom,  however,  re 
mained  absent,  and  Dorothy  presently  sent 
Edith  to  bed,  promising  that  he  should 
bring  her  news  of  Cornish's  condition  as 
soon  as  he  returned. 

An  hour  later  Tom  knocked  at  his  sister's 
door,  and  thrust  in  his  kindly  countenance. 

"  A  dislocated  shoulder  and  a  couple 
of  fractured  ribs,"  he  declared  cheerfully. 
"  Blount  says  that  every  step  his  horse  made 
must  have  hurt  him  confoundedly." 

"  How  is  he  now  ?  " 

"  As  comfortable  as  a  man  who  treats 
broken  bones  with  so  little  respect  can  hope 
to  be.  But  his  '  striker '  is  a  dull  sort,  so  I 
am  going  back  to  stay  the  night  with  him." 

"  That  is  good  of  you,  Tom,  dear." 

He  received  her  caress  affably. 

"Dare  is  the  fellow  who  should  be  sur 
geon's  assistant,"  he  said.  "  He  cleared 
out,  however,  when  Cornish  began  to  revive. 
Admitted  frankly  that  the  sight  of  him 
would  vex  the  patient.  Queer  chap  !  " 


THE   KING   OF   THE    TOWN  107 

He  walked  to  the  door. 

"  Go  to  sleep,  child ! "  he  exclaimed. 
"  You  look  almost  as  spent  as  Cornish  does. 
By  the  way,  he  sent  you  a  message.  His 
apologies  for  making  a  scene  !  " 

Owing  to  the  desire  of  Cornish,  the  as 
sault  to  which  his  accident  was  due  was 
not  officially  noted,  and  such  rumors  of  the 
facts  as  reached  Ludlow  were  merely  whis 
pered  at  the  barracks.  The  surgeon's  ver 
dict  on  the  commanding  officer's  case  was  a 
fortnight's  confinement  to  his  quarters.  But 
he  proved  an  invalid  upon  whom  his  exas 
perated  medical  adviser  found  it  impossible 
to  execute  sentence.  Within  a  week  of  his 
accident,  he  appeared  at  his  office,  carrying 
an  arm  in  a  sling,  yet  manifesting,  Tom  re 
ported,  his  habitual  disposition  to  overwork 
himself  and  every  one  else. 

Late  that  afternoon  Edith,  who  was  read 
ing  on  the  veranda,  glanced  up  at  the  sound 
of  a  slow  step,  and  saw  him  approaching. 

"  I  have  a  vague  idea  that  you  meant  to 


108  THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN 

be  very  kind  to  me  the  other  day,  and  that  I 
was  churlish,"  he  said,  smiling,  as  he  took  the 
chair  which  she  drew  forward,  with  a  mur 
mured  greeting.  "  Will  you  forgive  me  ?  " 

Would  she  forgive  him?  She  who  was 
so  glad  to  see  him,  even  thus  white  and 
worn,  that  she  knew  a  gladness  out  of  all 
proportion  to  what  was  expected  of  her 
must  be  shining  in  her  happy  eyes.  She 
turned  them  away  from  him. 

"  It  is  hard  to  forgive  myself  for  having 
been  powerless  to  help  you,"  she  answered 
softly.  "  I  shall  always  dislike  those  special 
three  miles !  " 

"  You  will  soon  have  more  agreeable  asso 
ciations  with  a  ride  you  take  so  often." 

"  I  dare  say  I  shall  not  go  that  way  again 
this  summer,"  she  exclaimed,  coloring. 
"  Tom  and  Mrs.  Blount  have  rendered  it 
impossible  for  me  to  continue  my  singing 
class  at  Silverton." 

"  You  have  given  it  up  ?  " 

"  I  could  not  ride  over  without  either  of 
them,  and  they  deserted." 


///A    KING    OF   THE    TOW*  109 

"  Then  it  was  not  to  the  wishes  of  your 
friends  that  you  yielded?"  Cornish  said 
sharply.  "  How  does  Mr.  Dare  endure  the 
failure  of  one  of  his  projects?" 

"  I  have  not  seen  him  since  the  afternoon 
when  he  " 

"  When  he  magnanimously  extended  the 
aegis  of  his  protection  to  me  " 

Cornish  paused.  The  nervous  irritation 
of  his  manner  steadied  into  sternness,  as  he 
rose,  confronting  somebody  behind  Edith. 

She  guessed,  as  she  turned,  that  the  new 
comer  was  Dare.  He  stood  in  the  long 
drawing-room  window,  gravely  graceful  as  a 
cavalier  by  Velasquez  —  if  it  could  be  im 
agined  that  Velasquez  might  have  painted  a 
cavalier  in  cow-boy  flannels  and  buckskins, 
instead  of  knightly  velvet  and  steel. 

"  The  '  striker  '  told  me  that  I  should  find 
your  brother  with  you,  Miss  Lorimer,"  he 
said.  "  But  Major  Cornish  will  be  yet 
more  satisfactory,  if  I  may  speak  to  him  for 
a  moment  on  business." 

Edith  assented,  smiling  perfunctorily. 


110  THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN 

"  I  am  at  my  office  every  morning  until 
noon,"  Cornish  began  coldly. 

But  Dare  interrupted  him  with  an  impet 
uous  sweetness  of  look  and  tone  which 
touched  Edith  despite  her  annoyance  at  his 
coming. 

"  You  do  not  seem  fit  for  office  work  yet, 
and  I  should  not  ask  it  of  you.  My  busi 
ness  is  merely  to  request  a  favor  for  Ser 
geant  Robin  of  Troop  E." 

"  Who  was  tried  by  court  martial  yester 
day  for  overstaying  a  furlough,  and  losing 
money  at  poker  which  belonged  to  his  com 
rades?" 

"He  swears  that  he  was  drugged  and 
robbed." 

"  The  usual  defense." 

"  I  know  it  to  be  true  in  this  case." 

"  Testimony  should  have  been  submitted 
before  the  conclusion  of  the  court  mar 
tial." 

"  I  was  only  sure  of  it  an  hour  ago." 

"  The  officers  who  tried  him  will  undoubt 
edly  receive  it." 


THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN  111 

"  This  is  my  difficulty,"  Dare  exclaimed. 
"The  man  who  drugged  and  robbed  him 
possesses  enormous  influence  among  the 
worst  set  in  Silverton.  I  hope  to  so  over 
whelm  him  with  evidence  of  guilt  that  he 
may  be  forced  to  leave  the  town,  but  I  am 
as  yet  unprepared.  As  you  know,  there  is 
no  civil  authority  there,  and  I  must  work 
sub  rosa.  Will  you  not  take  my  word  that 
Kobin's  sentence  is  undeserved  ?  " 

"No!" 

The  single  syllable  sounded  short  and  dis 
tinct  as  a  pistol  shot,  and  Dare  recoiled  as 
though  he  had  received  it.  The  two  men 
faced  each  other  dumbly. 

"You  will  permit  this  trooper  to  suffer 
unjustly  that  you  may  insult  me  ?  "  Dare 
demanded. 

"  It  would  be  irregular  in  any  case  to  re 
mit  sentence  for  reasons  which  cannot  be 
made  public." 

"  Will  you  hear  my  statement  of  them  ?  " 

"  My  decision  would  be  unchanged." 

Dare  struck  his  hands  together  passion 
ately. 


112  THE   KING    OF    THE    TOWN 

"  Miss  Lorimer  !  "  he  began. 

But  Cornish  interposed  haughtily. 

"  No  intercession  will  affect  me." 

"  It  is  hard  to  see  one's  own  punishment 
fall  upon  other  shoulders,"  Dare  muttered, 
and  walked  toward  the  house. 

Cornish  leaned  his  unhurt  arm  on  the 
chair  from  which  he  had  risen  when  Dare 
arrived. 

"Wait,"  he  said,  his  color  fading  with 
every  husky  word.  "  If  you  will  have  your 
evidence  ready  to  produce  within  a  week,  I 
will  withhold  sentence  until  then." 

Dare  turned.  He  made  a  step  nearer, 
but  Cornish  neither  moved  nor  lifted  his 
bent  gaze. 

"  Thank  you,"  Dare  said  gently,  and  was 
gone. 

Cornish  sank  into  the  chair. 

"  I  seem  destined  to  make  a  fool  of  myself 
in  your  presence,"  he  faltered  impatiently. 

"  When  a  man  conquers  his  own  heart,  he 
is  not  called  a  fool,"  Edith  answered  with 
a  tremulous  smile  which  was  very  sweet. 


THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN  113 

"  He  is  called  greater  than  he  who  taketh  a 
city." 

His  look  dwelt  on  her,  and  his  tired  eyes 
filled  with  light. 

"That  is  the  first  approval  I  have  ever 
won  from  you,"  he  murmured. 

"  Would  you  like  to  win  more  ? "  she 
asked,  flushing  daintily  over  all  her  droop 
ing  face.  "  I  hear  my  brother  coming,  and 
he  will  beg  you  to  stay  for  dinner ;  go  home 
instead,  —  you  are  a  very  ghost." 

"  And  only  sorrowful  ghosts  walk  abroad, 
—  do  they  not  ?  "  he  said,  lifting  a  ribbon 
which  hung  from  her  belt  and  putting  it 
softly  down  again.  "  I  shall  take  this  happy 
ghost  to  quarters." 

He  rose  as  Tom  emerged  from  the  draw 
ing-room  window,  and  went  to  meet  him. 


IV 

THAT  evening  after  dinner  Edith  obtained 
the  details  of  Sergeant  Eobin's  case  from 
her  brother,  who  had  been  presiding  officer 
at  the  court  martial. 

The  sergeant  was  a  veteran  of  six  years' 
service,  possessing  a  creditable  record  in  a 
couple  of  Indian  campaigns.  Cards  and 
drink  had  been  familiar  stumbling  blocks 
during  the  earlier  portion  of  his  career, 
but  his  superiors  supposed  them  overcome 
when  a  sergeant's  chevrons  were  bestowed 
upon  him  just  before  his  troop  was  ordered 
to  Ludlow.  At  Silverton  he  had,  however, 
fallen  under  evil  influences.  His  captain 
was  patient  with  him  until  an  overstayed 
furlough,  and  the  loss  of  money  entrusted 
to  him  by  comrades,  constituted  faults  that 
could  not  be  condoned.  He  had  admitted 
the  facts  of  both  charges  to  the  court  mar- 


THE  KING    OF   THE    TOWN  115 

tial  board  and  had  proved  unable  to  produce 
testimony  for  his  defense  that  he  had  been 
drugged  and  robbed.  Therefore  a  severe 
sentence  was  submitted  to  Cornish  for 
approval.  The  man  Dawson,  in  whose 
dance  -  hall  and  lodging  -  house  Robin  had 
lost  the  money,  was  a  power  for  evil  at  the 
settlement,  and  an  obstinate  foe  to  Dare's 
reforms.  Tom,  though  glad  that  the  ser 
geant's  accusation  should  have  another 
chance  of  corroboration,  was  inclined  to  be 
lieve  Dare's  certainty  of  its  truth  inspired 
by  a  personal  desire  to  expose  Dawson,  and 
the  secrecy  requested  while  he  pursued  his 
investigations  savored  of  the  coup  de  theatre, 
always  somewhat  characteristic  of  Dare's 
methods.  Furthermore,  Tom,  with  a  mis 
chievous  smile,  attributed  Cornish's  postpone 
ment  of  the  sentence  entirely  to  feminine 
wishes. 

When  Edith  warmly  defended  Cornish's 
sense  of  justice,  he  dropped  the  subject  with 
prompt  awkwardness,  in  obedience  to  a 
signal  from  his  wife. 


116  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

Edith  also  beheld  the  signal,  and  without 
resentment. 

Then  she  went  to  her  piano,  and  dreamed 
away  the  remainder  of  the  evening,  singing 
with  a  sweet  conviction  that  through  two 
open  windows  those  tender  old  ballads  were 
listened  to  by  Cornish  in  solitude,  after  a 
different  fashion  from  that  of  Tom  and 
Dorothy,  who  blithely  teased  each  other 
across  a  chess-board. 

A  week  elapsed,  —  a  week  during  which 
Cornish  grew  daily  stronger,  and  the  sur 
geon,  attributing  complacently  this  improve 
ment  to  his  closer  observance  of  medical  re 
strictions,  prophesied  his  speedily  complete 
recovery.  They  were  days  in  which  he 
displayed  an  ingenuity  as  to  the  frequency 
and  naturalness  of  his  meetings  with  Edith, 
which  amused  Mrs.  Blount  and  Dorothy, 
being  so  evidently  of  love,  not  of  necessity ; 
for  at  a  three-company  post  all  lives  are 
lived  in  enforced  propinquity. 

The  morning  came  at  last,  ending  the 
week  which  Cornish  had  granted  to  Dare 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  117 

for  the  production  of  his  evidence  in  favor 
of  Sergeant  Robin,  and  Edith,  walking  up 
the  parade,  was  reminded  of  it  by  seeing 
Dare  issue  from  headquarters. 

He  was  so  absorbed  in  his  thoughts  that 
he  did  not  perceive  her  until  she  paused. 

"  Good-morning,"  she  exclaimed,  smiling. 
"  I  hope  your  presence  here  thus  early 
means  good  news  for  poor  Robin?" 

"  The  best,"  he  answered  briskly.  "  Your 
brother  has  agreed  to  call  together  the  court 
martial  board  that  I  may  read  to  them  the 
confession  I  extracted  from  Dawson.  It 
clears  the  sergeant  of  everything  except 
folly,  —  an  attribute  so  widespread  that  if 
soldiers  were  dismissed  for  its  manifesta 
tion,"  he  added  gayly,  "  our  standing  army 
would  soon  cease  to  exist !  " 

"  I  hope  that  Dawson  is  definitely  van 
quished?" 

"  At  all  events  he  is  gone,  and  his  depar 
ture  was  hastened  by  the  urgency  of  his 
neighbors.  I  fear,  indeed,  that  his  influence 
has  not  all  departed  with  him.  But,"  he 


118  THE  KING   OF  THE   TOWN 

interrupted  himself,  smiling,  "  it  is  thank 
less  to  conjure  misgivings  after  such  a  vic 
tory  !  May  I  come  in  for  an  instant  ?  " 

Edith  assented.  He  was  so  instinct  with 
energy  and  achievement,  and  both  were  so 
nobly  unselfish,  that  her  sympathy  inclined 
to  him  even  more  than  its  wont.  Yet  she 
shrank,  while  she  blamed  her  shrinking, 
from  the  chance  of  another  encounter  be 
tween  him  and  Cornish.  Did  she  not  know 
that  only  by  similar  encounters  could  they 
reach  that  mutual  comprehension  she  desired 
for  them  ?  It  was  mere  cowardice  to  dread 
the  momentary  eclipse  of  that  new  bright 
ness  in  two  grave  blue  eyes. 

Her  attention  wandered  from  what  Dare 
was  saying,  as  she  preceded  him  to  the 
drawing-room,  and  was  recalled  when  she 
confronted  his  glance  half  sad,  half  amused. 
Did  he  guess  her  unwillingness  ? 

He  was  speaking  of  her  quondam  class, 
which  had  appeared  successfully  at  his 
recent  preachings. 

"  We  sing  only  the  most  generally  known 


THE  KING   OF  THE   TOWN  119 

hymns,  and  we  hope  when  the  whole  audi 
ence  become  familiar  with  the  airs,  that 
they  will  join  the  refrains.  Unless  you 
have  heard  such  a  chorus  you  can  have  no 
conception  how  glorious  it  is  —  three  or 
four  hundred  voices  singing  their  Creator's 
praise  under  his  everlasting  stars  !  " 

Dare's  smile  was  radiant,  but  something 
chilled  her,  listening,  —  perhaps  the  abiding 
thought  of  a  nature  in  whose  depths  and 
heights  was  silence. 

"  Is  n't  such  a  display  of  fervor  more 
emotional  than  real  ?  "  she  asked  with  in 
voluntary  coldness. 

Dare's  brilliant  look  grew  troubled. 

"  We  must  win  them  through  their 
emotions  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  What  power 
do  you  imagine  conscientious  conviction  has 
over  the  lives  of  that  wild  flock  of  mine  ? 
Their  emotions  rule  them,  and  I  can  but 
seek  to  turn  those  emotions  from  the  paths 
of  sin  to  the  service  of  God !  " 

He  had  risen.  He  was  pale.  His  voice 
vibrated. 


120  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

Edith  was  aghast  before  the  feeling  she 
had  aroused. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon  very  humbly,"  she 
entreated.  "  You  must  know  how  far  I  am 
from  daring  to  criticise  a  mission  I  so  honor 
as  I  do  yours.  I  meant  only  to  ask  you 
whether  you  thought  that  emotion  likely  to 
produce  enduring  results  ?  " 

"  When  I  am  most  hopeful,"  Dare  said 
dreamily,  —  his  mood  had  changed  again ; 
he  leaned  on  the  mantelshelf ;  his  vague 
gaze  touched  her  without  perceiving  her,  — 
"  I  believe  that  my  efforts  may  be  the  sun 
shine  and  the  rain,  to  which  God  gives  the 
power  to  bring  forth  his  harvest.  Yet  why 
should  I  hope  that  work  of  mine  "  — 

"  Forgive  me  !  "  she  murmured.  "  It  is 
not  your  work  or  your  aim  that  I  doubt !  " 

"  But  I  doubt  them ! "  he  said  very  low. 
"Is  it  God's  glory  for  which  I  serve  or  for 
my  own  ?  Is  it  not  pride  and  triumph  to 
me,  after  the  shipwreck  I  have  made,  to 
know  that  I  can  sway  this  townf ul  of  human 
ity  as  I  wish  ?  Though  the  road  by  which 


/'//A'    KING    OF    THE    TOWN  1-1 

I  lead  them  is  God's  road,  do  I  not  exult  in 
their  leadership  for  my  honor  ?  " 

"No,  no,  no  ! "  Edith  cried  with  soft  ve 
hemence.  "  Such  doubts  are  fatigue,  over 
work  or  —  or  "  —  she  faltered,  and  the 
tears  were  on  her  lashes,  —  "  or  the  pain  of 
4  a  wound  from  the  hand  of  a  friend ' !  " 

Dare  recovered  himself  with  a  swiftness 
she  had  seen  him  achieve  once  before. 

"  It  is  a  very  kind  hand,"  he  said,  smiling, 
"so  kind  that  even  the  wounds  it  inflicts 
are  clean  and  pure  as  a  surgeon's,  which 
are  for  healing,  not  for  hurting ! "  He 
hesitated  ;  "  I  wish "  -  he  resumed  again 
as  he  picked  up  his  broad  felt  hat  —  "I 
failed  to  see  Major  Cornish  to-day,  but  your 
brother  tells  me  that  he  is  recovering." 

"  He  talks  of  riding  this  afternoon,  though 
Dr.  Blount  objects." 

"  He  was  generous  to  me  about  Robin's 
case,"  Dare  said  slowly.  "Yet  he  has  no 
faith  in  me;  and  when  we  were  boys  — 
ah !  and  years  afterward,  my  word  was  law 
to  him !  You,  who  are  more  than  worthy 


122     THE  KING  OF  THE  TOWN 

of  all  trust,  —  you  cannot  conceive  the  pain 
of  meeting  his  honest  eyes,  and  knowing 
that  you  can  never  bring  back  their  lost 
faith!" 

"  But  you  will !  He  is  so  true  that  he 
must  recognize  truth  when  he  sees  it  clearly." 

"  Does  not  his  truth  perceive  my  false 
hood  ?  And  if  I  never  see  pardon  in  eyes 
which  are  so  like  Eosamond's  —  shall  I  ever 
see  forgiveness  in  hers  ?  " 

He  was  gone  swiftly,  leaving  Edith  an 
aching  legacy  of  compassion  for  the  blackest 
anguish  a  soul  may  suffer ;  one  which  she 
knew  that  some  of  the  stoutest  souls  who 
ever  fought  for  the  world's  salvation  have 
found  their  deadliest  foe  —  which  is  indeed 
the  shadow  haunting  all  enthusiasts,  the 
great  darkness  of  self  doubt. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  Mrs.  Blount  and 
Dorothy  returned  from  an  expedition  to 
Silverton.  Edith  was  making  tea  for  them 
when  Tom  entered,  and  delivered  himself  at 
once  of  the  result  of  the  court  martial. 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  123 

The  confession,  which  Dare  had  exacted 
from  Dawson,  fully  corroborated  Robin's 
story,  and  he  had  been  sent  back  to  his  duty 
with  a  rebuke  and  a  warning. 

Those  were  the  facts  of  the  proceedings, 
but  Tom's  eloquence  was  not  limited  to 
facts.  He  was  again  possessed  by  that  con 
fident  admiration  for  Dare  which  had  been 
banished  by  Cornish's  story  and  his  own 
consequent  fears  as  to  the  results  of  his  sis 
ter's  zeal.  This  relapse  had  been  imminent 
since  Edith's  abandonment  of  the  singing 
class,  and  the  energy,  acumen,  and  courage 
Dare  had  now  displayed  brought  it  to  a 
climax.  Not  only  was  the  proof  of  Daw- 
son's  guilt  so  complete  that  public  opinion 
had  banished  him  with  a  haste  which  left 
his  affairs  to  be  settled  by  underlings,  but 
certain  leading  citizens,  who  had  come  over  to 
the  court  martial,  had  added  to  Dare's  brief 
statement  details  which  they  declared  made 
him  yet  more  absolutely  "  king  of  the  town." 
Among  those  rough  frontiersmen,  personal 
fearlessness  was  the  ideal  common  to  those 


124  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

who  were  able  to  appreciate  the  high  purpose 
of  regeneration  which  had  inspired  his  single- 
handed  defiance  of  a  notorious  ruffian,  and  to 
those  who  could  only  admire  the  dauntless- 
ness  which  accomplished  its  object  careless 
of  danger. 

"  An  object  that  embraces  wider  interests 
than  Robin's  acquittal,  which  was  merely 
the  point  of  a  wedge  to  split  up  an  influence 
destructive  to  the  community,"  Tom  con 
tinued  gravely.  "  The  expulsion  of  such  a 
rascal  as  Dawson  is  a  long  stride  toward 
the  establishment  of  law  and  civil  authority, 
for  which  Dare  is  urging  a  petition  to  the 
legislature  at  Helena." 

"  Will  not  that  end  his  dictatorship  ?  " 
Edith  asked,  remembering,  with  a  flutter  at 
her  throat,  his  morbid  self-torment  of  the 
morning. 

"That  is  a  consideration  beneath  his 
reckoning.  But  the  better  class  at  Silverton 
are  anxious  for  his  safety.  They  fear  that 
he  is  exposed  to  a  vengeance,  likely  to  have 


THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN  125 

been  entrusted  by  Dawson  to  members  of 
his  gang,  as  evil  of  instinct  and  as  sure  of 
shot  as  himself." 

"Cannot  they  protect  Dare?"  Edith  ex 
claimed,  indignantly.  "  Anxiety  is  n't  very 
real  which  finds  no  expression  beyond 
words." 

"  How  can  you  protect  a  man  with  such 
a  mission  and  such  a  temperament  ?  "  Tom 
cried  fervently.  "  He  answers  their  warn 
ings  as  Martin  Luther  used  — 4  If  I  die  I 
die$  and  there  is  one  preacher  less  in  the 
world  ;  but  while  I  live  I  will  serve  God  as 
He 'directs  me.' " 

They  were  gathered  about  the  tea  table, 
their  hearts  stirred  by  the  story  of  this  war 
against  evil,  and  by  the  words  of  the  great 
reformer,  which  echo  down  the  centuries 
with  his  triumph. 

Even  Edith  was  jarred,  as  by  a  discord 
ant  note,  when  Cornish's  voice  said  formally 
from  the  doorway  — 

"  May  I  come  in  ?  " 


126  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

"  Ah,  Major,  glad  to  see  you  !  Of  course 
Jackson  has  told  you  that  Kobin  is  ac 
quitted?"  Tom  exclaimed,  too  eager  to 
abandon  his  subject.  "  I  wish  you  had 
heard  the  story  of  Dawson's  defeat  from 
those  who  saw  it." 

"  Were  you  not  at  the  court  martial, 
Major  Cornish  ?  "  Mrs.  Blount  asked. 

"  The  court  martial  took  place  while  I 
was  ill,"  Cornish  answered.  "  This  meeting 
was  simply  to  annul  their  former  sentence, 
and  my  presence  was  unnecessary ; "  he 
hesitated,  and  added  harshly,  "I  trust  the 
sergeant  received  the  severe  reprimand  he 
deserved  ?  " 

Tom  assured  him  that  Robin  had  seemed 
properly  impressed  by  the  narrowness  of  his 
escape.  Then  they  talked  on  indifferent 
topics,  with  a  sense  that  their  attempted 
lightness  was  heavily  weighted.  Mrs. 
Blount  speedily  departed.  Tom  and  Doro 
thy  strolled  to  the  doorstep  with  her,  and 
Cornish  looked  at  Edith  beseechingly. 

"  Will  you  come  out  on  the  veranda?     I 


THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN  127 

—  I  have  not  been  able  to  see  you  alone 
to-day." 

Presently  they  leaned  against  the  railings 
side  by  side,  and  stared  away  across  scraggy 
intervening  "  buttes "  to  the  far-stretching 
prairie  —  that  prairie  desolate  as  the  ocean, 
and  inspiring  with  the  same  conviction  of 
eternity  and  infiniteness  the  vague  longings 
of  humanity. 

"  You  think  that  I  am  unjust  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Yes  —  and  I  am  very  sorry." 

"  For  him  ?  " 

"For  both  of  you.  I  hoped,  the  other 
evening,  that  you  had  begun  to  feel  the 
nobleness  of  his  motives." 

"  I  believed  that  he  would  accomplish  the 
task  he  undertook,  and  justice  to  Robins 
compelled  me  to  give  him  time,"  Cornish  said 
hurriedly.  "  I  half  knew  that  I  got  your  ap 
proval  on  false  pretenses,  but —  "  he  left  his 
sentence  unfinished,  and  stood  erect.  "I 
shall  never  trust  him,"  he  ended  sternly. 

"  It  adds  a  bitterness  to  his  sorrow  that  he 
cannot  recall  the  belief  you  once  gave  him." 


128  THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN 

"Can  he  recall  those  whom  my  belief 
thrust  into  the  way  of  his  cruelty  ?  " 

He  looked  down  at  her  fair  upturned 
face,  and  his  eyes  adored  her. 

"  He  has  taken  so  much  from  me !  "  he 
muttered.  "I  am  mad  with  fear  that  he 
will  take  you  too  !  " 

"Me?  — Me!" 

Such  a  passion  of  protestation  and  denial 
was  in  those  short  syllables  that  Cornish 
grew  white  with  a  rapture  whose  sudden 
sweetness  dizzied  him. 

He  caught  her  hands  to  his  breast. 

"  I  love  you  !  I  —  I  love  you !  "  he  stam 
mered.  "  And  you  —  ?  " 

"  Ah,  you  know ! "  she  murmured,  a 
soft  thrill  of  laughter  between  two  sobs. 
"  I  told  you  first !  " 

When  they  imparted  their  news  to  Tom 
and  Dorothy  it  was  declared  to  be  no  news 
at  all !  What  the  garrison  society  said  of 
it  varied  in  form  according  to  individual 
character,  but  the  import  of  placid  satisfac- 


THE  KING    OF   THE   TOWN  129 

tion  was  universal.  Most  of  them,  indeed, 
had  been  sure  of  the  engagement  and  of 
their  approval  of  it,  before  Edith  and  Cor 
nish  had  approached  such  certainty. 

"  All  the  world  loves  a  lover,"  and  the 
small  world  at  Ludlow  was  amiably  disposed 
to  give  these  two  every  opportunity  for 
spending  the  largest  possible  proportion  of 
the  glorious  summer  hours  together.  Among 
many  plans,  a  riding  party  was  proposed  to 
a  waterfall  in  a  gulch  among  the  foothills  a 
couple  of  miles  beyond  Silverton.  There 
was  question  as  to  the  distance  being  within 
Cornish's  present  strength,  but  he,  having 
essayed  a  shorter  ride,  was  confident  of  his 
endurance. 

Half  a  dozen  of  them  set  forth  accord 
ingly  —  a  judicious  number,  Mrs.  Blount 
agreed  with  Dorothy,  who  was  not  going; 
a  number  from  which  the  lovers  might  wan 
der  off  at  pleasure,  without  feeling  that 
they  thus  forced  as  absolute  and  less  en 
chanting  a  solitude  a  deux  upon  their  com 
panions. 


130  THE  KING   OF   THE   TOWN 

No  Italian  sky  could  have  been  more 
radiant  than  the  cloudless  blue  above  them. 
The  breeze,  which  floated  with  soft  sighs 
from  nowhere  in  particular,  was  instinct  of 
that  wondrous  Montana  vitality  which  is 
like  the  stir  of  renewed  youth  to  sluggish 
pulses ;  while  to  pulses  bounding  with  a 
thrill  yet  keener  than  its  own,  it  added 
another  sweetness  to  one  of  life's  most  ex 
quisite  hours. 

The  waterfall  formed  part  of  a  swift  little 
river,  which  was  shut  in  between  high  banks 
overgrown  by  such  wild  greenery  that  the 
riding  party  were  compelled  to  tether  their 
horses  at  the  entrance  of  the  gulch  and  fol 
low  its  course  on  foot  to  their  destination. 
But  Edith  doubted  whether  Cornish  was 
equal  to  so  rough  a  scramble  as  this  meant, 
and  she  found  no  difficulty  in  persuading 
him  that  half  an  hour  alone  together  was 
worth  a  greater  loss  than  the  view  they 
sacrificed ! 

They  allowed  the  others  to  wander  on  un- 
regretted.  She  sat  beside  him,  while  he  lay 


THE  KING    OF   THE    TOWN  131 

on  the  grass  with  her  hand  in  his  clasp,  and 
the  unutterable  content  of  his  pale  face 
flooded  her  soul  with  the  most  exultant 
sense  of  power  that  a  good  woman  can  know 
—  for  such  women  are  all  individualists  ! 
However  keen  their  intellect,  however  virile 
their  energy,  no  widely  diffused  influence  of 
talent  and  character  is  more  than  a  cold 
substitute  for  the  sovereignty  of  one  heart 
chosen  to  reign  over ! 

Throughout  the  life  which  stretched  be- 

O 

fore  them  there  would  be  moods  of  h?s 
strong  silent  nature  which  she  must  divine 
for  his  happiness.  But  she  felt  confident  of 
her  magic  as  his  fingers  quivered,  when  she 
laid  her  other  hand  softly  over  them. 

"  I  am  a  dull  fellow,"  he  murmured,  look 
ing  up  at  her  with  eyes  that  spoke  love 
after  a  fashion  whose  eloquence  has  found 
no  equal  language  in  words,  since  the  world 
and  love-making  began  together.  "  I  am 
dull  and  dumb  —  with  rough  places  that 
may  hurt  you  sometimes  —  yet  —  yet  —  " 

"  Mine  own,"  she  answered  softly.    "  And 


132     THE  KING  OF  THE  TOWN 

I  have  a  wonderful  esteem  for  my  own 
property !  " 

She  bent  a  little  nearer  to  him,  smiling. 

"Isn't  it  absurd,  or  what  the  old  novels 
would  call  '  unmaidenly,'  to  confess  that  I 
have  felt  that  you  belonged  to  me  —  almost 
from  the  first?  —  Now  you  know  why  I 
have  lectured  you  and  hectored  you  !  All 
you  did  —  what  you  said  —  what  you  did  n't 
say,  it  was  all  mine,  of  which  I  was  proud 
—  or  otherwise,  —  but  my  very  own  !  " 

Cornish  had  risen  to  his  knees.  He 
sought  to  draw  to  his  the  lips  which  made 
such  confession.  But  she  started  away  from 
him. 

"There  is  somebody,"  she  exclaimed. 
Then  added  in  a  changed  tone,  "Look  — 
he  is  that  man  Dawson." 

Cornish  turned  sharply,  and  saw  a  figure 
slinking  through  the  underbrush  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  stream. 

Edith  shivered. 

"  Why  is  he  here  ?  They  say  he  vowed 
vengeance  against  Mr.  Dare  —  and  it  is 


THE   KING    OF   THE   TOWN  133 

almost  a  week  since  he  was  expelled  from 
the  town." 

"  His  object  is  probably  to  keep  up  commu 
nication  with  those  who  are  settling  his  busi 
ness  matters.  Vengeance  which  talks  loud 
does  n't  often  come  to  action,"  Cornish  said, 
smiling. 

The  serpent  must  have  been  unavoidably 
combative  who  could  disturb  his  Paradise 
just  then  ! 

"  Mr.  Dare  should  be  warned,"  she  began 
nervously. 

But  he  would  not  permit  the  thought  of 
Dare  to  haunt  her. 

He  lifted  her  hand,  and  kissed  each  white 
finger. 

"  I  knew  that  I  was  yours,  to  make  happy, 
or  to  make  miserable,  from  the  moment  your 
blessed  touch  brought  me  to  my  senses  the 
night  of  the  sermon,"  he  murmured. 

And  straightway  there  descended  upon 
them  that  sweet  oblivion,  to  which  most  of 
the  world  owes  too  dear  a  debt  for  blame  or 
carping. 


134  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

Their  companions  returned,  gayly  scorn 
ful,  and  extolling  the  beauties  of  the  water 
fall. 

They  strolled  leisurely  back  to  the  horses. 
But  so  soon  as  they  had  emerged  from 
the  gulch  they  perceived  that  something 
nearer  and  darker  than  the  coming  night 
was  rushing  across  the  western  sky.  A 
storm  was  close  upon  them,  and  everybody 
was  suddenly  in  a  hurry. 

Yet  the  haste  of  the  tempest  was  swifter 
than  theirs,  and  it  overtook  them  when  they 
had  only  reached  the  outskirts  of  Silverton. 
A  chaos  of  wind  and  water  and  electricity 
enveloped  them.  The  frightened  horses 
halted,  bending  their  heads,  and  passively 
opposing  their  riders'  efforts  to  urge  them 
further. 

"  We  must  lead  them,"  Cornish  exclaimed. 
"  Thank  God,  shelter  is  near !  " 

He  dismounted  and,  taking  Edith's  bridle 
with  his  own  in  his  unhurt  hand,  he  dragged 
the  two  horses  after  him  toward  a  house 
which  loomed  dimly  before  them. 


THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN  135 

The  other  men  followed  his  example  for 
the  brief  distance  that  intervened. 

So  bewildering  was  the  tumult,  and  so 
altered  the  aspect  of  familiar  things  by  the 
weirdly  changed  atmosphere,  that  they  had 
become  confused  as  to  their  bearings.  The 
women,  clinging  to  the  saddles,  were  barely 
able  to  keep  their  seats,  while  the  men 
stumbled  and  slipped  with  the  difficulty  of 
their  footing,  and  the  inert  resistance  of  the 
animals  they  led. 

A  door  was  flung  open  in  the  building 
they  were  struggling  to  reach.  Against  the 
background  of  lighted  interior  stood  a  tall 
silhouette.  It  was  Dare. 

He  welcomed  them  gladly,  sending  a 
couple  of  boys  to  bestow  the  horses  under 
a  shed,  declaring  that  the  storm  was  too 
violent  to  endure  and  in  the  mean  time  he 
was  very  happy  that  they  must  accept  what 
poor  hospitality  he  could  offer. 

Talking  gayly,  with  the  sense  of  escape 
from  the  flashing  danger  outside,  they  en 
tered  the  big  club-room  behind  the  store, 


136  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

where  three  or  four  loungers  sprang  to  their 
feet  in  decorous  shyness  before  the  presence 
of  ladies. 

As  the  door  shut  behind  them,  Cornish, 
who  had  walked  away  to  the  further  end  of 
the  veranda,  flung  himself  on  a  bench. 

But  Edith,  lingering  unseen,  followed  him 
swiftly,  and  sank  down  beside  him. 

"  Go  in  !  "  he  exclaimed,  starting.  "  You 
cannot  wish  to  stay  here." 

"  You  are  to  know,  now  and  always,  that 
where  you  are  there  I  shall  wish  to  be,"  she 
whispered. 

He  drew  her  close  to  him  with  passionate 
remorse. 

"  Forgive  me !  "  he  muttered.  "  Sweet ! 
sweet ! " 

Then  he  rose,  lifting  her  also. 

"  We  will  go  in  together,"  he  said. 

"  Not  if  it  hurts  you !  I  am  so  wet  al 
ready  that  I  shall  be  no  worse  for  getting 
wetter.  And  I  believe  the  rain  has  ceased !  " 

She  was  right.  The  rain  was  gone  as  sud 
denly  as  it  had  come.  The  wind,  however, 


Tin:  KI\<;  OF  THE  TOWN          137 

still  blew  her  loosened  hair  about  the  fair, 
smiling  face  which  the  lightning  showed  him. 

"  We  are  very  well  out  here,"  she  began 
gallantly.  But  the  words  died  on  her  lips 
as  there  pierced  sharply  through  the  roar  of 
the  wind  and  the  crash  of  the  thunder  that 
cry  most  dreaded  of  all  earth's  clamors  of 
distress :  — 

"  Fire  !  Fire  !  Fire !  " 

Except  on  a  ship  at  sea  that  sound  is  never 
so  terrible  as  in  a  prairie  town,  built  of  such 
flimsy  materials  as  adds  each  another  fuel 
to  the  racing  blaze  which  reaches  it. 

At  the  first  shriek  the  house  door  was 
thrown  open,  and  several  men,  bounding 
across  the  porch,  vanished  into  the  lurid 
darkness.  An  instant  afterward  Dare,  Tom 
Lorimer,  and  Gwynne  appeared. 

"  The  rain  has  stopped  !  "  Dare  cried  with 
dismay. 

"  The  town  must  be  well  drenched,  how 
ever,"  Tom  exclaimed.  "  The  water  pelted 
down  on  us  as  from  a  cloud-burst." 

"  It  cannot  have  done  more  than  wet  the 


138  THE   KING   OF   THE   TOWN 

surface  of  those  buildings,  which  are  scorched 
to  tinder  with  the  drought,"  Dare  said  ab 
sently,  and  listening  the  while  to  the  out 
cries  whose  volume  seemed  to  increase  as 
the  storm  rapidly  lessened. 

"  I  must  leave  you.  You  will  be  able  to 
return  to  the  post  soon  now  —  " 

"The  ladies  will  be  safe  here,  and  we 
cannot  desert  our  neighbors  while  they  may 
need  our  help."  Tom  hesitated,  glancing 
at  the  two  figures  motionless  among  the 
shadows. 

"Eight,  Lorimer!"  Cornish  exclaimed, 
advancing.  "  We  must  know  the  extent  of 
danger  to  the  town ;  "  he  looked  directly  to 
Dare.  "  We  have  hose  and  a  small  hand 
engine  that  can  be  got  here  within  half  an 
hour." 

"  Thank  you.  I  will  let  you  know  imme 
diately,"  Dare  answered,  springing  down  the 
steps. 

"  Wait,"  Cornish  said  with  effort.  "  Miss 
Lorimer  desires  that  you  should  be  told  that 
Dawson  is  near  —  probably  in  town." 


THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN  139 

Dare  paused,  and  glanced  back,  while  the 
light  from  the  doorway  shone  on  his  resolute, 
handsome  face. 

"  The  town  is  full  of  my  friends,"  he  said. 
"  I  am  armed,  and  "  —  a  gleam  which  was 
not  saintly  flashed  in  his  eyes,  —  "I  am  as 
sure  a  shot  as  he  is !" 

He  rushed  off,  followed  by  Gwynne,  who 
was  as  wild  at  the  propinquity  of  a  fire  as 
most  grown-up  boys  of  more  years  than  he 
had  attained. 

The  others  remained,  watching  the  gath 
ering  of  a  crowd  now  revealed  by  flames 
which  burst  forth  from  a  large  drinking- 
saloon  that  had  been  struck  by  lightning. 

Dare's  store  stood  some  distance  beyond 
its  nearest  neighbor  toward  the  hills,  at  that 
end  of  the  street  furthest  from  the  little 
river  between  which  and  the  fire  a  triple 
line  of  water  carriers  was  forming. 

Presently,  neither  Tom  nor  Cornish  could 
resist  the  contagion  of  excitement,  and  they, 
too,  vanished  among  those  shadowy,  swaying 
figures.  A  moment  later  flames  darted  from 


140  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

the  houses  on  either  side  of  that  in  which 
the  fire  had  begun,  while  the  roof  of  one 
just  opposite  blazed  fiercely  under  the  burn 
ing  wreckage  flung  upon  it  by  the  wind. 

Almost  simultaneously  young  Gwynne 
appeared,  bounding  toward  the  shed  where 
the  horses  were  sheltered. 

"  The  Major  has  sent  me  for  the  engine 
and  a  dozen  fellows  of  Troop  E,"  he  cried, 
and  swept  by  them  again  on  horseback, 
waving  his  cap. 

Mrs.  Blount  and  Edith  were  alone,  with 
the  big  open  rooms  empty  behind  them,  for 
everything  masculine  was  waging  the  fight, 
whose  loss  or  whose  winning  meant  life 
or  death  to  the  settlement.  Half  an  hour, 
during  which  nobody  came  to  them,  elapsed, 
while  they  strained  sight  and  hearing  to 
measure  the  increasing  danger. 

Then  they  were  aware  of  the  steady  gallop 
of  Gwynne's  reinforcements,  the  shouts  of 
welcome  which  received  them,  and  the  hur 
ried  separation  of  the  crowd  for  the  stretch 
ing  of  the  hose. 


THE   KING   OF   THE    TOWN  141 

They  had  just  rejoiced  at  the  rush  of 
water  upon  the  flames,  which  betokened  the 
working  of  the  engine,  when  they  saw  a 
couple  of  men  advancing  toward  them,  sup 
porting  another. 

"Who  are  you?"  Mrs.  Blount  cried, 
while  Edith's  voice  seemed  suddenly  as 
still  as  her  heart. 

"  Bob  Frost  has  broke  his  arm,"  some 
body  answered.  "  The  doctor  chap  from 
Ludlow  said  to  bring  him  here,  and  he 
would  set  it  after  a  bit." 

"  I  'm  the  4  doctor  chap's '  wife,  which  is 
next  best  to  being  himself,"  Mrs.  Blount 
declared  gayly.  "  I  know  enough  to  make 
this  poor  fellow  more  comfortable." 

With  which  she  supervised  the  installa 
tion  of  her  dazed  and  grimy  patient  in  a 
large  chair,  and  began  to  cut  up  his  shirt 
sleeve. 

Edith,  in  the  mean  time,  inspired  by  her 
energy,  found  the  way  to  the  kitchen,  and 
rebuilt  the  fire  there,  with  a  view  to  pro 
viding  hot  water  for  probable  necessities. 


142  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

Bob  Frost's  comrades  promptly  left  him 
to  these  willing  ministrants,  and  his  wits 
cleared  under  the  stimulant  of  some  whiskey 
which  Mrs,  Blount  fetched  from  the  bar. 

He  proved  able  presently  to  soothe  their 
terror  at  a  tremendous  explosion  that  rattled 
every  window  in  the  house. 

"  Never  fear,  ladies,"  he  exclaimed  cheer 
fully  ;  "  it 's  just  dynamite,  which  Dare  got 
from  the  mines  to  blow  up  a  shanty  or  two, 
and  so  starve  out  the  fire." 

He  proceeded  to  "prophesy  smooth 
things  "  as  to  the  diminution  of  the  danger 
from  these  measures,  the  abatement  of  the 
wind,  and  the  good  help  of  the  engine. 

"  Them  soldiers  works  fine,"  he  continued, 
when  his  eloquence  was  limbered  by  the 
interest  of  his  audience,  and  the  strength 
of  his  potation.  "  Dare,  he  sings  out,  after 
he  had  watched  them  a  bit,  '  There,  boys,' 
he  says,  4  look  at  them  chaps  ;  we  have  got 
the  will  to  work  like  them,  but  they  have 
got  the  way  too!  That  is  what  law  and 
order  does  for  men,  —  it  teaches  the  way  to 


THE   KING   OF   THE    TOWN  143 

them  that  has  the  will,  and  that  is  what  we 
are  going  to  learn  when  we  get  into  tackle 
with  the  "  big  wigs  "  of  the  state  govern 
ment.'  Dare  is  a  great  fellow  for  4  law  and 
order,'  "  Bob  added  reflectively  ;  "  but  he 
is  making  us  all  so  mild  and  moral  on  his 
own  hook,  that  when  he  gets  the  sheriff  and 
the  mayor  he  wants  for  us,  they  will  find  he 
ain't  left  them  anything  to  do ! " 

A  consummation  scarcely  yet  reached, 
however  near  Bob's  optimistic  admiration  of 
his  leader  believed  it. 

As  he  spoke,  the  comparative  stillness 
which  had  followed  the  explosion  was  smit 
ten  through  by  pistol  shots,  and  then  by  such 
an  outbreak  of  yells  as  though  all  the  devils 
of  rage  and  fury  had  burst  into  utterance. 

"  Some  sneak  thief  has  paid  a  high  price 
for  trying  to  steal  from  the  goods  piled  up  in 
the  street,"  Bob  asserted  confidently.  "  Dare 
will  quiet  things,  but  even  he  could  n't  save 
such  a  skunk  at  such  a  time,  I  guess." 

Edith  returned  to  the  porch,  shivering 
with  a  dread  which  this  explanation  did  not 


144  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

allay,  and  which  made  her  watching  almost 
unendurable. 

Between  her  and  the  fire,  which  had 
ceased  to  gain  ground,  lay  the  scene  of  this 
disturbance,  she  thought,  for  she  saw  a  hur 
rying  to  and  fro  which  apparently  had  no 
concern  with  the  yet  urgent  battle  against 
the  flames.  After  a  moment,  half  a  dozen 
figures  detached  themselves  from  this  group, 
and  moved  toward  her,  carrying  a  prostrate 
body. 

It  was  for  her  one  of  those  spaces  in  which 
a  soul  neither  prays  nor  reasons  in  its  an 
guish  of  suspense. 

She  recognized  her  brother  hastening  for 
ward. 

"  My  poor  girl,"  he  began. 

"  Quickly  !  "  she  gasped. 

"  Cornish  is  safe,"  Tom  exclaimed.  "But 
Dare  —  We  have  had  a  horrible  scene, 
and  I  cannot  spare  you  and  Mrs.  Blount  the 
end  of  it." 

"What  has  happened?"  Edith  tried  to 
ask,  while  each  heart-beat  was  a  thanksgiv- 


THE   KING   OF   THE    TOWN  145 

ino-  which  for  an  instant  could  understand 

O 

no  new  pain. 

44  Dawson  was  there.  He  disputed  Dare's 
order  to  blow  up  his  place.  Dare  told  him 
to  clear  out  or  he  would  have  him  locked  up, 
and  the  scoundrel  shot  him." 

"  Shot  Dare !  " 

44  And  after  a  time,  when  it  seemed  likely 
that  he  would  be  torn  in  pieces  by  those 
maddened  fellows,  he  shot  himself." 

44 But  Dare?" 

"Blount  says  he  is  dying.  They  are 
bringing  him  here." 

Tom  entered  the  house,  while  Edith  sank 
on  a  bench  and  watched  that  slowly  advan 
cing  group  evolve  from  shadows  to  substance 
as  they  came  within  the  light  of  the  open 
doors  and  windows  behind  her. 

Faint  with  horror  and  compassion,  she 
sat,  motionless,  as  Dare's  inanimate  figure 
was  borne  carefully  up  the  steps  and  into 
the  house.  Dr.  Blount  and  several  others 
followed  closely.  Then  she  watched  no  fur 
ther,  for  Cornish  stumbled  forward. 


146     THE  KING  OF  THE  TOWN 

She  caught  his  cold  hand  as  he  was  pass 
ing  her,  unseeing.  He  submitted  to  the  soft 
insistence  which  drew  him  down  on  the 
bench  beside  her.  But,  except  that  his  fin 
gers  clung  to  hers,  he  showed  no  heed  of 
her,  and,  leaning  on  the  window  ledge  be 
hind  the  bench,  he  gazed  into  the  lighted 
bedroom  where  Dare  had  been  laid. 

Presently,  facing  this  point  of  view,  gath 
ered  others  excluded  by  Tom's  repetition 
of  Dr.  Blount's  command  that  nobody  fur 
ther  should  be  admitted  to  disturb  his  pa 
tient. 

Dare  lay  propped  up  with  pillows,  and 
had  regained  consciousness.  Edith  saw  him 
smile  gratefully  as  Mrs.  Blount  came  deftly 
to  her  husband's  assistance,  and,  after  a  mo 
ment,  through  the  heavy  silence  which  had 
fallen  upon  every  one,  she  heard  his  low 
tones  quite  audibly. 

"  Give  me  up,  Doctor  !  We  both  know 
that  you  are  wasting  time,  and  I  can  spare 
none  of  what  is  left  me." 

With  a  murmur  of  acquiescence  the  sur- 


THE   KING   OF   THE    TOWN  147 

geon  gently  drew  the  coverlid  over  the  torn 
shirt  and  blood-stained  bandages. 

Dare  looked  up  at  the  men  who  stood 
around  him,  —  the  men  who  represented  the 
best  element  in  Silverton,  and  in  whose 
countenances  was  written  sore  dismay. 

"  Be  of  good  cheer,  little  flock.  Neither 
be  ye  afraid,"  he  said,  and  his  voice  rang 
clear  as  in  his  preaching.  "  I  think  you 
know  whose  words  those  were,  and  at  what 
parting  they  were  spoken?  —  when  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  left  his  work  for  them  to  con 
tinue  who  felt  so  unequal  to  it.  They  are 
his  words  now,  not  mine !  It  is  his  work 
now,  which  is  left  in  your  hands,  not  mine ! 
His  work,  which  He  has  taken  from  me  be 
cause  He  sees  that  I  am  unworthy  to  carry 
it  further." 

A  great  sob  broke  from  the  burly  mana 
ger  of  the  "  Yankee  Doodle." 

"  Don't  you  say  that,  Dare  !  Don't  you 
try  to  make  us  believe  the  Lord  sees  no 
clearer !  He  wants  you  for  Himself  —  and 
that's  a  fact!" 


148  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

A  light,  half  awe,  half  triumph,  glorified 
Dare's  white  face. 

"  His  mercy  is  infinite,  "  he  murmured. 
"  Yet  you  must  believe,  as  I  do,  that  He  is 
taking  me  from  temptation.  I  have  labored 
for  you,  and  prayed  for  you ;  I  have  brought 
you  thus  far  out  of  the  bondage  of  lawless 
ness.  But  a  day  is  near  when  my  power 
among  you  would  diminish,  —  when  I  should 
be  merely  a  citizen  under  the  law,  —  no 
more  the  King  of  the  Town,"  he  smiled. 
"And  the  Lord  knows  that  I  should  not 
like  to  abdicate.  Hush  !  "  he  added  imper 
atively.  "  We  have  some  work  still  to  do 
together,  and  it  must  be  done  quickly.  Am 
I  talking  too  much  ?  "  —  he  interrupted 
himself  at  a  warning  from  Dr.  Blount. 
"  My  time  for  silence  is  very  near." 

The  radiant  serenity  of  his  glance  seemed 
to  confront  Cornish,  though  he  was  unaware 
of  that  tense  watching.  With  an  inarticu 
late  exclamation  Cornish  rose,  and,  yet  clasp 
ing  Edith's  hand,  forced  their  way  through 
the  group  behind  them  to  the  end  of  the 
veranda. 


THE    KING    OF   THE    TOWN  149 

"  Not  one  falter !  not  one  regret,  except 
for  them,"  he  murmured,  pausing.  "  That 
cannot  be  hypocrisy?  Say  something  to 
me  to  bend  my  stubbornness,  —  to  crush 
my  doubts." 

She  clung  to  him  dumbly.  He  was 
ghastly  with  fatigue,  with  the  pain  of  his 
half  healed  hurt,  —  yet  more  worn  with 
the  struggle  of  his  stern  uprightness,  which 
must  be  justly  convinced  before  it  would 
yield  to  the  yearning  of  old  affection.  But 
what  need  for  her  to  speak,  when  through 
his  soul  echoed  another  voice  ? 

"  From  the  moment  we  reached  the  fire 
until  he  was  shot,"  Cornish  went  on  bro 
kenly,  "every  word,  every  order  proved 
him  a  leader  of  men.  We  were  tools  for 
his  use?  —  all  of  us.  Now,  face  to  face  with 
death,  which  surely  makes  souls  honest,  he 
is  —  this !  Yet  he  is  the  man  I  have  such 
reason  to  hate,  —  whose  life  for  years  was  a 
record  of  shame  and  worthlessness." 

He  leaned  his  head  against  the  wall  be 
hind  him,  and  shut  his  eyes. 


150      THE  KING  OF  THE  TOWN 

"  God  help  me,"  lie  muttered.  "  Nothing 
but  bitter  repentance  could  make  a  change 
as  wide  as  between  hell  and  heaven,  —  yet 
I  cannot  forget  —  " 

She  put  her  arm  over  his  shoulder.  The 
tears  were  racing  down  her  cheeks. 

"My  poor  love,"  he  said,  "you  always 
believed  in  him  —  tell  me  what  to  do  ?  " 

"  You  know,  dearest  —  dearest  —  you 
know !  " 

He  kissed  her. 

"  Come !  "  he  exclaimed. 

Again  they  paused  beside  the  window, 
where  the  watchers  made  place  for  them. 

Dare  was  signing  some  papers,  with  a 
faintly  amused  wonder  at  the  shaken  char 
acters. 

"  There  is  a  certain  pathos  in  that  signa 
ture,"  he  said.  "  It  may  compel  the  atten 
tion  of  the  legislators  at  Helena,  —  and, 
oh !  my  friends,  whom  I  am  leaving,  — 
never  forget  that  the  closer  you  live  to  law 
and  order,  the  more  real  will  be  your  lib 
erty  !  " 


THE   KING    0^   THE    TO\V\  151 

His  voice  failed.  He  listened  wistfully 
to  the  sob-broken  assurances  that,  for  his 
sake,  the  roughest  of  them  would  be  as 
lambs  in  the  fold  of  civil  authority  to  which 
he  consigned  them. 

His  glance  wandered  from  the  little  circle, 

o 

about  the  wide,  bare  room. 

"  Is  there  any  one  you  want  to  see  ?  "  Dr. 
Blount  asked. 

"  Somebody  who  will  not  come,"  Dare 
murmured  wearily. 

Cornish  shivered.  He  opened  the  door 
and  walked  swiftly  to  Dare's  side. 

The  dying  eyes  were  lifted  to  the  living 
eyes  that  were  scarcely  less  haggard,  — 
perhaps,  for  that  instant,  those  two  wide-set 
souls  so  strongly  knit  together  beheld  each 
other  as  they  shall  hereafter  in  truth  and 
verity. 

Cornish  sank  to  his  knees,  and  his  hand 
closed  over  Dare's  limp  fingers. 

"  Rosamond  -  Dare's  lips  still  moved, 
but  the  words  were  inaudible.  His  lids 
drooped  heavily. 


152  THE   KING    OF   THE    TOWN 

Dr.  Blount  leaned  forward  and  touched 
Cornish's  shoulder. 

But  Dare's  eyes  opened  again. 

"I  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins," 
he  said,  and  smiled  —  that  mysterious  sweet 
smile,  which  if  it  be  not  the  dawn  of  Heaven, 
then  is  our  faith  vain. 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASSACHUSETTS,  U.  S.  A. 

BLBCTROTYPED  AND  PRINTED  BY 

H.  O.  HOUGHTON  AND  CO. 


YB  33334 


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